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Stefano was standing in the doorway, his face twisted in an agonized expression.
“That’s dinner,” said Grandma X, as though burned pot pie was perfectly ordinary fare. And it was, Jack reflected, all too often.
“These will need to be washed.” Stefano hefted his muddy trousers.
“Put them in the laundry and I’ll show you how to use the washing machine later.” Grandma X indicated a seat. “Come in and join us.”
Stefano did so, his nose screwed up in distaste. But for the contortion, he might have been handsome, Jaide thought. His dark hair was curly and hung down to his shoulders. His eyes were a surprising blue. He had freckles.
Susan served up vigorously revitalized and irregularly shaped portions of the pot pie, declaring it to be chicken. Jack might ordinarily have made his skepticism known, but in front of Stefano he felt too bad for his mother to say anything other than “Delicious!”
“Tell us where you’re from,” Susan asked Stefano.
“My brother and I were born in Ravenna, Italy,” he said around a mouthful of pie that he seemed to be having difficulty swallowing. “Our father is a carpenter, and we grew up with him until our Gifts awoke.”
“You don’t have much of an accent,” said Jack.
“Mama was English. Besides, I’ve spent the last two years traveling the world. It rubs off on you.”
For all her reservations, Jaide was impressed. “Traveling with Dad?”
“Yes, with Hector. He is a very good teacher. We would have nothing but the best.”
“What kind of things do you do with him?” asked Susan.
“Ordinary stuff,” he said with an expansive wave that almost knocked Ari off the kitchen counter. “Last year we retrieved the Crown of Clowns from the underground city of Ortahisar and fought an outbreak of The Evil in Stockholm. And then there was the rescue of Professor Olafsson from the minions of The Evil, of course. That was quite a scene.”
The twins leaned in eagerly.
“You found him?” asked Jaide. “Where was he?”
“Oh, we helped in a small way. It was all in a day’s work.”
Jack didn’t know whether to be jealous, amazed, or suspicious. Why wasn’t he having adventures like that, instead of being stuck in an old house in Portland? It wasn’t as if they hadn’t had their fair share of blow-ups, some of them rather awful, in fact, but none of them sounded as excellent as this. Could it be true?
Jaide was having similar thoughts. Perhaps when she became a proper Warden she would be able to do these kinds of things. If only they could do them with their father now, without their Gifts going haywire …
“I’m glad Professor Olafsson is safe,” she said. “Where is he?”
“It’s not really him. It’s just a relic.”
“His relic, then.”
“In Beacon Hill, with Aleksandr.”
“Where’s that?” asked Jack.
“Don’t you know? It’s where all the important Wardens like Aleksandr live. I’ve been there often.”
“Have you, Grandma?” Jack asked, hoping she would say something to outcompete what was obviously a wild boast.
“Not for a very, very long time,” she said, wrenching herself from what looked like a very deep thought. “I have no reason to leave Portland.”
“And of course, you can’t,” said Stefano.
“Can’t what?” asked Jaide.
“Leave Portland,” Stefano said as though stating the glaringly obvious. “If she does, the wards will fail. While she’s the Warden of Portland, she can’t leave. She’s stuck here until she retires.”
Jaide stared at Grandma X, knowing instinctively that what Stefano said was true. She and Jack had often wondered what would happen if Grandma X ever left the wards — indeed, she had gone to great lengths not to in the past — but they had never known it was so clear-cut. She was trapped in Portland until someone came to relieve her.
“I didn’t know Wardens retired,” said Susan with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s a polite way of saying dies,” said Grandma X, with something of her usual spirit. “Now, there’s another matter I need to talk with you three about. It was decided only an hour ago, so it’ll be news to you all.”
Susan got up and started clearing plates. No one had eaten very much.
“I won’t tell you why Stefano is here,” Grandma X told the troubletwisters. “That’s between him and me, although if he wants to tell you himself, he may. However, one thing Hector did ask me to do was to submit him to an immediate Examination. I’m telling you this, Jack and Jaide, because I’ve decided that you should be Examined also. The process will begin tomorrow and conclude Saturday. Do you have any questions?”
Jack looked at Jaide, and both of them looked at Stefano. He had gone pale, which was worrying.
“What’s an Examination?” asked Jack. “I presume you’re not talking about anything to do with school.”
“Hardly. The Examination tests your fitness to advance to the next degree of proficiency,” Grandma X said. “I have heard it described as ‘going up a level.’”
That sounded promising. Among the things the twins had learned about Wardens was that there was a definite hierarchical structure in the otherwise fairly loose society. The lowest rung on the ladder was, of course, to be a troubletwister, a youngster just coming into their Gift. How many steps there were, they didn’t know.
“If we pass does it mean we’ll be Wardens?” asked Jack hopefully.
“No, but you will be one very important step closer.”
“What kind of test is it?” Jaide asked. “Multiple choice?”
Stefano uttered a strangled sound that didn’t sound as though it had ever been a word.
“No,” said Grandma X. “It’s not that kind of test.”
“Rats,” said Jaide, who was convinced that B was her lucky letter.
“Will it be dangerous?” asked Susan. Sometimes she wished she had never pushed to know more about what her children got up to with their grandmother. Knowing even a little left her in a constant state of anxiety.
“It will be … trying,” said Grandma X, “or else it wouldn’t be a test. Jack and Jaide have tonight to prepare. I have arranged for the Examiner to attend them at eight thirty. The process will entail missing a small amount of school.”
Normally, Jaide would cheer that news. “Don’t forget we have soccer tryouts in the afternoon!”
“How could I?” Grandma X offered her a smile that was reassuring on that score. The coming weekend was a long weekend, thanks to a public holiday on that Friday, and Portland was hosting a regional soccer match, something that had been on the twins’ minds the whole month. Mr. Carver hadn’t picked the under-15 team yet and they were both hoping to be on it. “I can assure you that you won’t miss out.”
Stefano’s gaze was darting from Jack to Jaide, and back again. “I play soccer also. If I must attend school, do you think I could join the tryouts as well?”
“I don’t see why not,” said Grandma X. “In fact, as Hector told me that you have already sat the first round of Examination, you will be going to school in the morning. I’
ll send the twins on when they’re done.”
Weirdly, and worryingly, Stefano actually looked relieved at the thought of going to school.
“Won’t you tell us anything about the Examination?” asked Jack.
“You know all you need to know,” said Grandma X.
“But we don’t know anything!” said Jaide. “How can we prepare if we don’t even know what to prepare for?
“You have been preparing every day since you became a troubletwister. The Examination will tell us how far you have come. That is all.”
The twins spent the remainder of the evening hiding out in their room, avoiding Stefano while fretting about the Examination and grilling the cats for information. Kleo’s lips were sealed, as they ever were when it came to information Grandma X wanted to keep hidden from the troubletwisters. Ari was more likely to let secrets slip, but even he had little to offer.
“I only know what I hear other Wardens talk about,” he said, “and there have been no Examinations since I became a Companion.”
“None at all?” asked Jaide. “I assumed there were lots of troubletwisters before us.”
“No. Your grandmother has been alone as long as I’ve known her.”
“Apart from us,” Kleo pointed out.
“And the Living Ward, I guess,” Ari added, “although you’d have to say a giant mutant axolotl probably wasn’t the best company. She certainly didn’t have it around for tea.”
Jack felt a pang of sadness for his grandmother then. Until the twins had arrived to stay with her, she’d had no contact with them, or Susan, and rarely Hector. Her sister, Lottie, had been lost in the Evil Dimension. Her husband and parents were dead. The only other person who had seemed to be friendly with her was Rodeo Dave, who owned the secondhand bookstore on the corner of Watchward Lane. He had once been a Warden himself, and fancied Lottie to boot, but he had had his memories erased a long time ago and didn’t know anything about Grandma X’s secret life. No wonder she had seemed so scary when they’d arrived: She just wasn’t used to having people around.
“Lights out in half an hour,” said Susan, sticking her head around the door. “Last chance to do your chores.”
