Page 21 of The Journal of a Thousand Years
“Or documents,” the professor added. “According to these early dates, the first few were written around the year 900. They would have been written on scrolls back then, and for hundreds of years afterwards. Books came later. Someone at some point decided all the information across several scrolls needed to be kept in the one place.” He indicated the book with a flourish of hands, as a fairground magician would conjure a trick.
Alex continued. “Then midway through the book, in the 1500s, the handwriting changes. A different author added to it. The change in handwriting continues to the end, each page or two written by someone new.”
“A new generation,” I murmured.
Alex turned to the last page with writing on it, before the several blank pages at the very end. “This was written by Melville Hendry.”
I sat in the chair and read. Melville’s small, neat handwriting gave an overview of his magical skill, including which spells he could perform and how long the effects of each spell lasted. Following that was a brief account of the changes in laws affecting magicians and guilds in the early 1890s. Neither his role nor that of Gabe’s parents was mentioned. Then, finally, he’d written the birth date and name of my brother, James. Marianne Folgate was listed as James’ mother, however ‘Folgate’ was written in different ink.
“He probably added it after he learned about her family in Ipswich,” I said, pointing to the surname. “He wrote my name today.” In the same neat scrawl, he’d written ‘Sylvia’ belowJames’s name, noting the year of my birth, but not the exact date or place since he didn’t know them.
Gabe rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. “He’s leaving it for you to fill in.”
“Does he want the book back when you’ve done that?” Alex asked.
Willie snapped her fingers then pointed at Alex. “We can get Hendry when she returns it to him. We’ll lie in wait while you speak to him, Sylv. Is there an address on the back of that card?”
The professor picked up the card with my name on it. “It says, ‘This is yours now. Take care of it and give it to the strongest male magician of the Hendry line. A woman will do if there are no male heirs.’”
Willie pulled a face. “Chauvinistic turd.”
Earlier pages in the journal also listed the names and birth dates of children, so it acted as a sort of family tree, but only following along one line, that of the strongest male magician in each generation. I’d need to read it more thoroughly to find out if I was the first female to inherit the book.
Rosina, Myrtle and Naomi were listed, along with the date of Rosina’s disappearance, which had been crossed out. Melville must have done that this morning, too. Until very recently, only her two sisters knew she was alive.
I stopped at an early page that had a little more wear and tear than the others, and a few dense lines of text. “This is the paper strengthening spell. It must have been created by this fellow.”
“Or he was simply the first to record it in here,” Gabe said.
I carefully turned the old pages until I found another spell. I recognized it as the origami spell Rosina taught me. A third spell was titled the Moving Spell. Melville was the only one who knew that spell. Other pages contained accounts about the times paper magic played an important role in a family member’s life. The professor interpreted some of the Latin and found the pagesreferring to the years when magicians were forced into hiding by the artless who persecuted them.
We spent an hour poring over the book, at which point Willie declared she needed tea and cake. She left with the professor to prepare it.
I decided to telephone the Hendry sisters. It was time they knew I’d met their brother.
All three arrived thirty minutes later, just after we’d discovered the section in the book that referred to the merging of magics, and how other magicians of various disciplines had discovered they could combine their magics to enhance one or both. Paper magicians decided to experiment, and invisible writing was discovered, but due to the need for secrecy, experimentation was curtailed and nothing more useful was created.
“That’s it!” Naomi cried upon seeing the book.
Rosina picked it up and cradled it against her chest with a satisfied sigh. “Do you sense it, Sylvia? So much history and magic.” She sighed again. “I haven’t felt as fulfilled as this since holding my children after they were born.”
“I’m so glad Melville saw sense and gave it back,” Naomi said.
I felt Myrtle’s sharp glare needling into me. “How did he know to give it to you, Sylvia?”
I cleared my throat. “We met this morning. Apparently, he followed you here, hoping you’d lead him to the woman Evaline Peterson said was his relative and a paper magician. We talked and I informed him I was his daughter. He didn’t dispute the fact.”
I went on to tell them that Melville had actually been searching for my brother, James, and had hoped Evaline had made a mistake about the relative being a young woman.
“What else did he say?” Myrtle asked.
“Not much. He and my mother never married. Their union was forced by Lord Coyle, but he didn’t say how. I assume Coyle blackmailed them.”
Myrtle huffed in disappointment and frustration. “I assume Melville has been in hiding all these years?”
“Mostly at the Peterson factory. He wanted James to be able to find him, so he remained in London and continued to use the name Cooper. He didn’t know that James couldn’t recall anything about our father. He was too young when our mother left. I wasn’t even born yet.”
Rosina hugged the book again before setting it down on the desk and opening it. She slowly turned the pages.
