The Weaving of Wells (Osric's Wand, Book Four) Read Online Free PDF Page A

floor, wipe the drool from your chin, and look through that blasted contraption!”
    In no time, Willam had his eyes pressed down on the opening in the strand-sight device. Gus climbed up a chair and pulled himself up on top of the table where the strand-sight device sat, watching the examination with keen interest.
    “Man.” Kenneth shook his head as he watched Gus climb the table. “And he may never be nice again. I wish I’d known to say goodbye to the nice Gus. But we’ll place a nice grave marker for him later tonight.”
    “Whoa!” Willam hadn’t heard any of the sarcasm, but he began sliding the sword from hilt to tip and then back again below the glass. “What happened to this?” He looked up enthusiastically, backing away to let Kal take a look.
    “A unicorn turned it into a wand right before the palace collapsed last year,” Gus replied with a smile.
    “Unicorns?” Kal inquired as he watched Willam step away from the device.
    “Yes,” Gus replied, motioning toward Pebble, who had made himself busy exploring the room’s many sticks, unaware of the conversation happening behind him. “My brilliant son even had the help of the unicorns to make his wands. It seems the world has just been rude to the unicorns all these years, or they would have spoken to us all along, right?”
    Pebble was still unaware of the conversation.
    “No matter. That’s what you heard, right?” Gus addressed those who arrived with him.
    “That’s my best guess, from what we heard. Though it seems an awfully large grudge to hold,” Jane replied as Macgowan and Kenneth both nodded in agreement.
    “It’s a wand made of a mix of amulets and charms, right?” Kal looked at Gus for an answer.
    “What?” The prairie dog looked shocked.
    “Well, isn’t it? I noticed the same charm at the tip of it that’s in the necklace Bridgett wears.” He was unsure of himself, but that was how he would have felt even if nobody else was in the room.
    “When did you have the opportunity to examine that amulet?” Gus squinted his small brown eyes.
    “Well, you sent us to watch over her the night she got back after being injured in the battle. I heard the stories that everyone told about your first adventures together, and I wanted to see what it looked like. I sorta snuck it out for a few minutes while Willam was asleep.”
    “You what?” The accusing expression on Gus’s face told Kal that he had said too much.
    “Willam was there in case she woke up, and I had it back before either of them woke, so I don’t see what the big deal is. But that’s it. Look, it’s the exact same color on the third ring, right here.” He pointed at a spot near the tip.
    Gus stepped forward and looked down at Legati.
    “You may just be right, boy. I’m impressed. Each ring behind the first seems to contain a different gift, but there are genuine life strands weaving their way through the entire wand. I’ve never seen a wand with life strands.”
    “Well, this is no ordinary wand. I’ve never seen anything like it. The charms seem to be working together, feeding off of each other, as if they are alive,” Kal said, gazing at the sword in awe.
    “Don’t be daft, boy. Charms aren’t alive, they’re just spells trapped in objects.” Gus pouted briefly as he noticed the scolding expressions on Kenneth and Jane’s faces in response to his harsh words. “Although, I admit that if these are charms, they are not like any charm I have ever seen. Perhaps there is more to it than just a chain of normal charms trapped in a sword.”
    “If this thing isn’t alive, then why does it have its own life strand?” Willam asked, causing Gus to fall silent with his mouth open as he stared at the amazing wand lying under the eyepiece of the device.
    “There is much about it we still don’t know. But, we will study it together and learn. Kal, how are these rings like charms? What do you see?”
    Kal glanced over at Gus briefly, surprised at the patient,