When Doctor Phoebus had come back into the room, boiled the
kettle and made coffee, he and Oscar sat down at the desk.
“So, Lady Amelia tells me you’ll be starting training
tomorrow,” Doctor Phoebus said as he set down his mug on the desk and leant
back in his chair.
Oscar, beside him, nodded. “Yes, that’s what she told me,
too. So what will the training involve?”
“Well, here, we follow the standard Four School training
programme: Theory, Culture, Physical Training and School Specialism. You’ll
have no trouble with the culture part, of course.”
“I won’t?” Oscar replied impulsively. “I mean, no, I won’t,”
he corrected himself, hoping Doctor Phoebus just meant normal, British culture.
He could do normal, British culture: drinking tea (although he had had a lot of
coffee so far), being reserved and afraid to speak up when he didn’t understand
what was going on (and hoping he could keep this up and subtly work out where
he actually was), rooting for the underdog (although that seemed to be himself
at the moment).
He chuckled along with Doctor Phoebus, then asked, “Can you
tell me more about what you cover in the training programme?” And he added,
“Here?” to make it sound as though he wasn’t a complete novice but merely
enquiring about the methods used as this particular establishment.
“Well, Theory mainly covers the history of Friarr. We won’t
make you sit through all of that. You’ll need to go to the classes on the
theory of the Power, though, but you’ll see on your timetable which ones those
are. Physical Training will make you ready for going out on missions and using
the Secret Art of the Breadbin. You’ll need to go to all those sessions. I mean
that,” he said seriously. “You’ll regret it if you don’t. And School Specialism
is where I come in.” Oscar was pleased to hear the cheerier tone back in his
voice. “I’m the Yellow School trainer, so I’ll train you in how to use the
Power of Friarr as a member of the Yellow School.”
“Right. And what about the culture?”
“Oh, you’ll just soak up the culture while you’re here. Don’t
worry,” he said conspiratorially, “You can pretty much just carry on as
normal.”
“I see,” Oscar replied, doing his best to keep from panicking
about this new training programme he had suddenly been signed up to. He hadn’t
been expecting to be sent back to school. “And how long does the training
programme last?”
“Until you’re ready.”
“Until I’m ready for what?”
“To go out into the field. I assume that’s what your aim is.”
“Sure.” That was close enough. His aim was to get out of here
and go home.
“Great. Now, have you been issued your Manor Buddy yet?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, I came here with Delta. Does she
count?”
“No, not that kind of buddy. Not to worry, I’ll print you off
a timetable for now.” Doctor Phoebus pulled the computer keyboard towards him,
typed in a password and searched through some files until he found what he was
looking for. He clicked on print and reached under the desk to retrieve Oscar’s
new timetable.
The colour-coded grid reminded Oscar very much of his school
timetable, of the joy he’d had at colouring it in on the first day of each
school year, of colouring his favourite lessons yellow and his least favourites
in blue. He was pleased to see that there was no blue on this timetable: Theory
sessions were coloured pink, Yellow School Specialism was – of course – yellow
and Physical Training was orange.
“The grey blocks for Saturday and Sunday morning mean you can
have a lie-in,” Doctor Phoebus explained. “It’s quite a full timetable so
you’ll want to make the most of those mornings off to catch up on your sleep.
Although, like I said, you might not need to go to all of the classes. And
Culture in Sunday afternoon isn’t exactly a class and the activities are all
optional. I’m going to the noodle tasting this Sunday and the first round of
Wild Goose Chase is being shown on the big screen in the hall next weekend.”
“Right,” Oscar replied. “It’s just that this looks a lot like
a school timetable and I wasn’t really expecting that. I was told I’d be
trained to defend myself because I can’t go home yet, but this is… a lot to
take in.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Doctor Phoebus
tried to console him. “It’s not like you’re at the Glass Plains – now that is a
heavy timetable! But, of course, they really fast-track you through if you’re
based there.”
Oscar sighed and wished someone would explain things to him
properly. He considered asking Doctor Phoebus how he’d explain this place and
Friarr to a complete outsider but didn’t want to sound too weird.
“Anyway, enough of this official stuff. Tell me what you’ve
been working on out there in the real world.” Doctor Phoebus said kindly.
“I work for a software company,” Oscar said. “In sales at the
moment. I basically meet with clients to tell them about the packages we offer,
in the UK and abroad.”
“Have you ever been to Canada on your travels?” Doctor
Phoebus interrupted him.
“No,” Oscar said, remembering how Delta had asked him the
same thing.
“Oh, you should definitely go some time. I’ll next be going
in the spring. Only to visit the Glass Plains this time but I’m trying to get
time off to go in the summer and do the tourist thing. Growing up there I never
got to do that, of course. And working here, I don’t get to that in the UK
either. Worst of both worlds somehow.”
“So you grew up in Canada?” Oscar asked.
“Yes, started training at the Glass Plains right from the age
of four and youngest to graduate when I was 15.”
“Congratulations,” seemed to Oscar to be the right thing to
say.
“Thanks.” Doctor Phoebus sighed and stared into space for a
moment. “Anyway,” he said, sitting up straight again. “Now you have your
timetable. Let’s see what you’ll be doing tomorrow.”
They looked at the timetable. Wednesday morning was coloured
in bright orange: Physical Training
Outdoors (with permission).
“Have you got permission for outdoor training?” Doctor
Phoebus asked.
“I didn’t even know there would be outdoor training. Do I need
permission?”
“If you don’t know, you probably don’t have it. Lady Amelia
will have to approve it. I’ll call her now.”
While Doctor Phoebus was on the phone, Oscar looked more
closely at his timetable. Wednesday mornings were outdoor training followed by
History in the afternoon. Yellow School specialist training was on Tuesdays and
Thursdays; there were theory classes all day on Mondays and Fridays were
dedicated to indoor physical training. Saturday afternoons were for outdoor
physical training again, although, from what he could hear of the phone
conversation, this was sounding unlikely.
To Oscar’s relief, Doctor Phoebus announced that Lady Amelia
had not approved his outdoor training. He hadn’t been looking forward to taking
part in sporting activities outside during winter.
“I won’t reprint your timetable now,” Doctor Phoebus said.
“But it’ll be correct when you get your Manor Buddy. I’ll arrange for it to be
sent up to your room. Which room are you in?”
“Uh, last night I slept on Delta Foxtrot’s sofa. I doubt I’ll
be staying there.”
“Oh, right, haha, no, you won’t be staying there. A room will
have been sorted out for you in the Yellow School wing. We’ll go and find it
for you before dinner.”
“Good,” Oscar said. “And what is the Manor Buddy?”
“Oh, you haven’t had one before?” Doctor Phoebus asked. Oscar
stared at him blankly. “It’s like a smartphone, only on local frequency so
it’ll only work in and around the Manor. Everyone has one. It has your
timetable on it and you can use it to communicate with anyone in the building:
call, text, you name it. You use it to check in to your classes and you can
share your location so people can join you in the social areas. You’ve really
never had one of these before?” Doctor Phoebus asked again.
Oscar pulled his Android smartphone out of his pocket. “This
is what I have at the moment,” he said.
Doctor Phoebus laughed. “Oh boy! You’re going to have a great
time when you get your Manor Buddy! It’s totally customisable and yours to
keep. Oh, and I think there’s even a map of the building and grounds so you
won’t get lost. Speaking of which, why don’t we go and find your room now?”
