“In the meantime, there are a few rules I’d like to go over. The six of you are all exceptional young men and women. These rules are not being implemented out of any concern over your behavior, but only for your own safety.
“The lodge is located on several thousand acres, most of which is forested. That’s a lot of ground to get lost in, and there are bears and other potentially harmful creatures besides.” Roman couldn’t help but sneak a glance over at Mackenzie, suppressing a giggle as the big golden bear nodded sagely. “You are more than welcome to visit the landscaped area around the building itself, but please do not enter the woods—not even on marked hiking trails—without a guide.
“We also ask that you be inside the building by 8:00 p.m., but you do not need to be in your individual suites until 10:00 p.m. on ‘school’ nights, and until midnight on the weekends. I will be doing head counts, again for your safety. Think of yourselves as national resources. If you go missing, no expense will be spared to locate you, and I do mean no expense. So please be kind to the National Guard and respect the nightly curfew.”
She smiled when she said this, but Mackenzie had the feeling she wasn’t joking.
“There is an exercise space you may use at will. There is also an indoor pool, but this will be off limits except for specific hours on the weekends when a lifeguard will be on duty. The rest of the time, the door to the pool will remain locked. Please respect this precaution.”
She seemed to aim this comment particularly at Kaitlyn, who raised her hands slightly as though to say, ‘Who, me?’ managing to look both smug and casually offended at the same time.
“I think that’s about it,” she finished. “Enjoy your meal. If there is anything specific that any of you would like for breakfast in the future, please let me know. Anything that is even remotely within reason can be arranged.”
As the students finished eating, they did not speak amongst themselves, all of them intrigued by their new teacher but also profoundly aware that Miss Williams and Professor Mubarak were sitting well within hearing range. Privately, of course, they each had their own first impression of the man.
Kaitlyn liked him, but then again, she liked just about everyone. Mackenzie simply accepted him as yet another new teacher in an endless litany of new teachers, without holding any other opinion on the subject, but Sam appreciated his intellectual nature and found herself looking forward to her studies. Rush had no more interest in Professor Amr Mubarak than he did in anything else about the ICIC. Daniel, however, was reminded oddly of his mother—mostly because he heard the gentle reeds and chimes of her favorite yoga music every time he glanced in the man’s direction.
As for Roman, he already loved Professor Mubarak’s calm demeanor, and he was intensely relieved not to see anything dark about the man, especially after the demon-winged Mr. Lockhart of his own personal third-grade hell. In fact, Roman saw very little out of the ordinary about Professor Mubarak at all, which was somewhat extraordinary in and of itself, the only exception being a round, golden seal, about the size of a man’s fist, emblazoned in light directly over his heart: the side view of a lion, standing on its rear legs, its body struck through by a single bolt of lightning.
14
Talents
“Which of you is Kaitlyn Wright?”
Professor Mubarak held a manilla folder open on his lap. He was sitting on the floor in the middle of the lodge’s exercise facility, a large, open space without any furniture at all. There was another room next door with weight machines and treadmills, but this one was obviously designed for group classes, its floor covered in a blue mat-like material, soft and springy. Daniel would have said it was for yoga. Mackenzie would have said it was for sparring.
“I’m Kaitlyn,” she said brightly.
“Excellent!” He sat cross-legged, facing the group, with his students spread out before him in a rough semi-circle. He turned to Kaitlyn, placing the manilla folder aside.
“These sessions will be informal. They will not be classes in the traditional sense. In fact, I hope to learn as much from you as you will from me! So, please, call me Amr.”
“I’m sorry, Professor, but I’m not sure I can.”
“I understand that it will be strange for many of you, at first, to call a grown man by his first name—”
“No, no, it isn’t that,” Kaitlyn said quickly. “It’s just that, um…” She trailed off and cocked her head at him, pursing her lips, trying to think of how to say what she was thinking in the kindest possible way. “Well, I’m not sure I can pronounce it?”
At this, Amr Mubarak laughed out loud—a rich, deep laugh that made Kaitlyn smile. “Of course! My apologies. Amr is an Arabic name.” He pronounced it with the ‘m’ running directly into the ‘r’ and then trilling away with a roll of the tongue that did not exist in English. “Americans find it easier to say ‘Umar’ or ‘Amir.’”
“Which do you like?” Kaitlyn asked, but he shrugged her concern away.
“You may pick either one, or something else you think is closer. I will not be offended at the American pronunciation.”
“Hmm…” Kaitlyn thought for a moment. “I really don’t want to just say it wrong all the time. What about a nickname instead? Like ‘Ammu’?” she asked. “‘Am’ from your first name, and ‘Mu’ from your last name, kind of squashed together?”
Amr Mubarak looked at her with an odd expression that she couldn’t quite read, and then a huge smile lit up his face. He laughed again. “Why, I think that would be quite fitting, yes! That is a wonderful name!”
Kaitlyn looked at him questioningly. There was obviously something more to her suggestion than she realized.
“‘Ammu,’” he explained, “means ‘uncle’ in Arabic, specifically in my own Egyptian dialect. I had never noticed that about my name before. I would be deeply honored if you would call me this. It would please me greatly.” He smiled at each of them in turn. They all nodded or smiled back—all except Rush, who stared at him coldly.
“So!” he continued. “Having worked out our introductions, let us begin again! Kaitlyn?”
“Yes, Ammu?” she replied, grinning.
“Are you aware of any special gifts or talents you have already developed? Anything at all for which you might have a particular affinity?”
“I’m good at fixing things.”
“Wonderful! What sort of things?”
“Gosh, anything really. I’ve fixed all kinds of small things at the G&G, but I’ve fixed bigger things, too, sometimes. Like Grandma Maggie’s refrigerator.”
“And what is the G&G?”
“Oh, sorry! The Gears and Gadgets Repair Shop. People bring computers and TVs and blenders and microwaves… stuff like that.”