Chapter 4: Jack of all Trades - The Handyman

Everyone was waiting for us. Beth walked over to one of the younger children. “What’s wrong?” “We wanted to see if Oliver can make it taste better,” a small girl said. She was new to the orphanage and so emaciated that she looked like one of the little kids even though she was actually closer to my age. I took a moment to look at the food on the table.

Rotten Sandwich Grade: F Created by: Havasu

Meat: Rotten Bologna Bread: Stale

Suggestions: Replace Meat Fry Meat Add Cheese Soak the bread with water and baked for five minutes

I sighed. “Do we have any cheese?” “Of course not,” Beth replied, rolling her eyes. “You know that.” I picked up one of the sandwiches and headed to the kitchen. Elisa wasn’t there. She never was for lunch. Miss Havasu prepared lunch after morning lessons for the smaller children and left it out for us. We were on our own. I fired up the stove and waited until the pan was nice and hot before peeling open the sandwich and depositing the meat. While it cooked, I sprinkled some water on the bread and placed it in the oven. Both were done faster than I expected. I pulled the meat out of the pan just in time for the bread to be done. “Whose sandwich was this?” I asked after putting it back together. Everyone looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Finally, Beth sighed. “I’ll try it. Hand it here.” I gave her the sandwich and she gingerly sniffed it before nibbling a piece off the corner. A smile lit her face and she handed it to me. “It’s not stale. Here, you try.” I took a bite, curious about whether a rotten sandwich could be salvaged. While I could still taste it on the meat, cooking it made it much more palatable. On top of that, the bread almost tasted fresh after just a few minutes in the oven. I’d always had my suspicions about some of the things we ate in the orphanage. The milk tasted watered down and most of the food tasted as though Miss Havasu had plucked them from the garbage. Rather than saying what I was thinking, I gave a thumbs up and said, “Mmm, yummy.” That prompted a small stampede back to the dining room and, soon enough, we had an assembly line. Several kids separated the sandwiches while others rotated the soaked bread into the small oven. Beth had stovetop duty while I supervised.

You have gained 100 experience points.

There it was, the experience notice. I made a mental note that in order to get experience, I needed to fix things, not just Analyze them.

The older kids did their studies after lunch. We only got a few hours of Miss Havasu’s time per day, and she wasn’t really qualified to be a teacher. However, she did have some good books to read. She never said where she got them and I didn’t think to ask. Most of them were trade books that were supposed to help us learn skills to better ourselves in life but for me, I just found them fascinating. Miss Havasu tried repeatedly to get me to pick a trade so she could find me an apprenticeship but I could never decide. There was a whole world out there and I didn’t want to make the wrong choice. “I have an idea,” Miss Havasu began. “How do you feel about becoming an apprentice?” “What do you mean?” I asked. She sighed, motioning to a man wearing overalls outside of her office. “I figured since you’re having such a hard time making up your mind, it might be a good idea to try everything before making a decision. Mr. Branch is a handyman. If you follow him around, you might get an idea of what you want to do with your life.” “What about classes?” I asked, not wanting to give up my time with the books. Miss Havasu laughed. “Like I’ve ever taught you anything useful. If you’re worried about the books, you know you can come here anytime. I just think your time will be better spent learning new things. It will give you a head start on life.” She started toward the door to let Mr. Branch in but I stopped her by tugging on her sleeve. “Um, Miss Havasu.” “Yes?” She asked, giving me a look of concern. “Do you have any peroxide or bleach?” I asked, remembering the stain in the bathroom. “What?” She asked, looking very confused. “Mr. Branch should have both of those but why on Earth do you need them?” “Well, there’s this stain,” I began. “On the floor in the bathroom. I think it’s a blood stain.” Miss Havasu groaned. “Don’t worry about that right now. Go with Mr. Branch. We can deal with stains later.” I allowed her to march me out the door and present me to the handyman. The grumpy old man looked like he’d seen better days, wearing paint-stained overalls and an orange flat cap that didn’t match. “This is the boy I was telling you about,” Miss Havasu introduced me. “Oliver Evans.” I held out a hand respectfully. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Branch.” His hand engulfed mine when he shook it. It was then that I realized just how callused it was. “Howdy, Oliver. Are you a hard worker?” “Yes, Sir,” I responded respectfully. “Good,” he replied, letting my hand go. “Then come quickly. We’re on a schedule.” Before I knew it, he’d grabbed his trolly and walked out the door, not waiting for me to catch up. Miss Havasu patted me on the butt with her book and said, “What are you waiting for? Off you go.” I scampered after him, deciding to ask about cleaning supplies later.

“So, where are we going?” I asked after walking in silence for a few blocks. It was mildly surprising to me that Mr. Branch didn’t have a wagon of some sort. The trolly he pushed had a wide assortment of tools and cleaners that looked very heavy. There had to be a more efficient way of doing it.

Analysis: Aside from transportation, void bags weigh nothing and can hold large amounts of supplies. Size varies on quality.

“What is a void bag?” I muttered the question, staring at the result of my accidental Analysis. “What was that? Mr. Branch asked, looking back over his shoulder at me. “Keep up. This isn’t going to work if you slow me down.” I hustled to clear the distance between us, pushing the thoughts of strange bags that weighed nothing to the back of my mind. Our first stop was a few blocks away from the orphanage. Mr. Branch held open the door to the library and motioned for me to enter. “I’m going to do some maintenance in the back,” he informed me as he walked through rows of books. “You’re going to mind the Librarian and do as she says.” “What?” I balked, having second thoughts about my apprenticeship. “I thought I was going to be learning from you.” Mr. Branch sighed. “You will be. I’ll give you tasks when I see things you can do. Until then, you will make yourself useful. Is that clear?” “Yes, Sir,” I sighed, looking around the library for the first time. While I had technically been in a library before, I was young at the time and only remembered the fact that there were a lot of books. The truth was, there were very few places an orphan could go without being thrown out. Other homeless kids had ruined it for everyone by stealing or causing some other form of mischief to annoy the shop owners. I stood next to the front desk while an extremely beautiful woman showed Mr. Branch to the back. She wore a red ball gown that seemed out of place and had flowing blonde hair that cascaded down her back.

Lavender ??? Class: Enchanter Level: ??? Age: Unknown Weight: That’s none of your business. Height: I’m tall enough, thank you very much.

Lavender looked over her shoulders and winked at me. Does she know I could see the words of Analysis? I made a mental note to be more careful when Analyzing people in the future. I stood by the front desk for a few minutes before curiosity got the better of me, and I wandered over to the nearest shelf and began browsing through the books.

The Long and Industrious History of Logging in Canada Owner: New York Public Library

I picked it up and flipped through a few chapters. “Who would want to know about…” The sound of someone chuckling distracted me. I looked up just in time to see something dark and furry go sailing over the top of a bookshelf. It flitted from shelf to shelf as I raced to get a glimpse of it. Only when I made it to the other end of the library did I get a good look. “A monkey?” I wondered aloud. “Eek!” It roared, launching itself at me. I dove out of the way and it crashed into a stack of books behind me. “Enough!” Lavender shouted at the top of her lungs. “That’ll be quite enough of that. Back to work.” I hear shuffling, and by the time I looked up, it was gone. “He doesn’t like being called a monkey,” Lavender explained. “He is the Librarian in charge of the special section.” “Special section? He doesn’t like…um, what does he like to be called?” I asked, my brain trying desperately to digest the idea of a monkey that didn’t like to be called a monkey.” Lavender smiled, smoothing her dress as she explained. “He’s an orangutan. He doesn’t like to be called anything, so don’t try. And yes, there is a section of this library where some very special books are stored.” I was still hung up on the orangutan. “What do you mean it doesn’t like to be called anything? Did it tell you that? Also, doesn’t it have a name?” Lavender sighed. “He prefers to be called he, not it. He didn’t just tell me. He went to great lengths to have his name stricken from the system.” “Oh,” I replied, slightly dumbfounded. Giving up on the nameless orangutan, I asked, “Where is this special section? Can I see it?” “Good question,” Lavender replied with a smile. “The short answer is no. However, I am willing to make a deal with you. If you agree to do what you can to help me in the future, I’ll make sure you have access to information when you need it.” “What does that mean?” I asked, getting frustrated with the cryptic answers. “I’d like a book that explains what’s going on with me.” Lavender tutted. “Now now. You don’t need that information. You seem to be doing just fine with the one skill you have. Keep walking down this path and I’ll help you when the time comes. If you agree to my deal, that is.” “What deal?” I asked, not sure what exactly she wanted. “You’re going to have to be more specific if I’m going to agree to anything.” Lavender leaned over, bringing her to eye level with me. I had a feeling she was trying to mesmerize me with her beauty. “I can’t tell you what I need. It’s an unfortunate restriction of my class.” “Your Enchanter class?” I asked, remembering her Analysis. She chuckled, shaking her head. “No, that’s a masque. My true class is something quite different. However, I can’t tell you about that either. You are going to have to take a leap of faith if you want my help. How about this? I’ll give you the right to refuse my request when I make it. All I ask is that you give it all due consideration. Will you agree to that?” “What do I get?” I asked, feeling guilty about asking such a greedy question. Lavender rubbed her chin before replying. “Well. I suppose I’m going to introduce you to a world of magic. Not that you’ll need me to do that when the time comes but I can make it easier for you.” “Magic?” I asked, my head swimming at the thought. “Do you mean like Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of OZ?” “Very much like those,” she replied. “In fact, Oz is a very real place and Mr. Baum spent several years there doing research.” “It’s…real?” I stammered, feeling my legs weaken at the revelation. Lavender saw what was happening and slid a chair under me just in time for me to collapse into it. Was that always there? “It is real,” she replied. “You’re living proof of that.”

Chapter 4: Jack of all Trades - The Handyman

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