Chapter 1: Schemer
Schemer had been playing by a small creek in his backyard when he noticed the reflection of a young woman in the water.
He looked up expecting to find her next to him on the bank, but no one was there. He touched the water with his finger stroking
the girls cheek. Suddenly he was submerged in water. Shock, then panic shot through him, but before he could react, a sweet calm
came over him settling his mind and his body. He drifted through the water, and came to rest on a small, unfamiliar beach.
He tried to get up to explore but his muscles felt like lead weights. Exhaustion overtook him, plunging him into an unwelcome sleep.
He couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, when he awoke. The girl from the water was standing over him and he was lying
in a bed with the most comfortable sheets and lovely quilts. The smell was sweet, with food, and flowers. He had to be dreaming,
had he hit his head? But somewhere in the back of his mind the smell was so familiar so embedded in his soul. Something he had been longing for, he didn’t recognize it yet, but it was the smell of home.Schemer is a young boy, not quite eleven. When he was a
baby, his parents had disappeared into the woods, no one knows whether it was by choice or not, but for whatever reason,
they had not been seen since. A kind-hearted old woman had taken Schemer in, but now the woman had become very ill, so ill
that Schemer did not think she would live much longer. Everyone in his small town inMaine
and apprehension, although seemingly one out-weighed the other, for no one had yet stepped forward to offer Schemer a home.
Schemer had always been peculiar, the kind of peculiar that unsettles those around you. For one thing Schemer knew things about
people, things no one else knew, things people had never talked about, things they would never even dare tell their closest friends,
things he should not know. Schemer could also make people confess, sometimes to things they had not done. Then there were the
accidents, terrible accidents. No one could ever prove that he had caused them, yet he was always around when they happened.
The townspeople had grown very uneasy, many people were afraid of Schemer, some went so far as to plot revenge against him;
however, those conspirators were always the victims of unfortunate accidentsSo now Schemer lay in a beautiful bed while a
beautiful girl, almost a woman stared down at him. She took his hand, “welcome home brother”, her voice was beautiful, a watery
melodic quality that made him want to talk more with her. Had he heard it with his ears or just with his mind, he couldn’t be sure.
“I’m Rumor, one of your sisters, the others are coming,” she continued. Schemer did not know what she was talking about,
why did she say that she was his sister, where was he and why couldn’t he move?The room filled with noise, and three more
young ladies and a young man came bounding in. Rumor seemed to disappear into a watery mist. One of the young ladies came
forward, fire danced in her eyes and shot from her thoughts. It was hot when she touched his hand. “Welcome home Schemer,
we have been waiting for you for a long time. I’m Innuendo, your oldest sister. This is my twin Hint.” Hint stood staring at Schemer
but said nothing until Innuendo pushed him forward. “Yeah, hi, I’m Hint, I was born with no gifts, but I have heard you are
powerful.” Schemer was relieved to detect awe in Hint’s voice instead of fear or envy. A delightful breeze caressed his forehead
and played with his hair, comforting him. “ I‘m Whisper,” said another stranger who had suddenly appeared next to him.
She bent and kissed him. As she stood back up, he thought that she looked like she was floating, weightlessly. Then the last of the
girls approached him, this time he felt grounded, and whole, like he could walk again. He could feel the roots of his family weaving
their way into his body. “I‘m Secret,” she said with a hint of a smile, “you can walk again. The movement through passages always
renders a new body weak. Once you get used to it, you will be strong, and be able to guide yourself. For now you must use one
us, as Hint must, to travel through Legerdemain.” Secret reached out to rumple his hair and a rose fell from her hand the pedals
letting off a beautiful fragrance.Schemer pulled his legs out and swung them over the side of the bed. He was wearing white
pajamas, and began to wonder where his clothing was, and who had dressed him. Rumor smiled teasingly, and he knew at
once there would never be a secret in this house, that everyone knew your thoughts. “We cannot read everyone’s thoughts,
Secret can block her thoughts, and those around her, and Miss Turry’s mind cannot be penetrated even by the best of the
Legerdemains.” Schemer knew who Miss Turry was as the name slid out of Rumor’s mouth. She was a legend spoken of even
in the small town he had come from. A magical woman who had disappeared many years before any of them had been born.
It was said she still appeared in the town once in awhile and many claimed to have seen her. Some said she was the most beautiful
woman ever seen, and some claimed to have seen a weathered hag. It was said she had a home, somewhere in the mountains that
no one was able to find, that changed shape, and that looked very large from the outside, but was a quaint little cottage inside.
Reportedly, the mansion had walls of glassy swirling pink stone that looked like water, and grew beautiful roses that became the
wind, or burned with fire. No one seemed to know of any tails of evil deeds that Miss Turry had done, but people did not
understand who she was, what she was or where she lived, so, as is all too common when uncertainty is involved, people were
terribly afraid of her, but some claimed to be descendants all the same.“Where are we?” asked Schemer. “We are on the edge of
a town no one can see, on an estate that no one can find,” Innuendo’s red words sparked as she spoke them. “ Get dressed and
we will show you around,” Hint laughed at his brother. “Where are my clothes?” Schemer replied. Rumor reappeared for a
moment, to show him a closet he had not noticed. It was full of only white clothing. They all left him as he picked out a pair of
white pants, and a white shirt, and quickly dressed. He left through the same door they had, but when he opened it no one was
there, it was a wall. He heard Whisper, “You have to want to see us.“ He closed the door and opened it again, they were all
starring at him. Schemer was a tall boy, as tall as them, only with a young face full of distrust born by years of being treated as
an outsider.They all ran down the hall, and out another door to a large lawn. Up on a big hill sat a very large pink house.
Schemer stopped dead in his tracks, “is this the legendary house?”, he wondered to himself, “could it really all be true?”.
“Come on, we’re going to go see Miss Turry, she has been waiting for you,” Rumor yelled out in excitement. It was not often
they were invited up to the big house. “But, where are our parents?” asked Schemer. Everyone stopped and starred at him.
“Parents?” Hint asked” What are parents?” “Our Mother and our Father,” Schemer replied. Lightening struck as Schemer got
the words out, he felt himself being lifted into the air and a moment later he found himself sprawled across a floor in a quaint little
living room with an extraordinary woman looking down at him. His sisters and brother were no longer with him. “M-Miss Turry?”
Schemer timidly squeaked out, feeling a little frightened and more than a little bewildered. “Yes, I am. Let me help you up,”
she said as she took his hand and effortlessly lifted him into a chair. “I did not mean to frighten you with the lightening, but I cannot
have you talking to your siblings about your parents. Your mother and father have long since been gone, somewhere in
Legerdemain. In order to ease the pain, hide the emptiness, and protect them from trying to follow, all memories of your parents
have been taken from your sisters and brother. I do not want them to have that pain again, so I must take that memory from you
as well. Do you understand?” But before Schemer could say anything he felt a horribly cold hand across his forehead. As he fell
into Miss Turry’s arms, he tried desperately to hide the thought so he could find it later for instinctively he knew he would need it.
He awoke to his brother and sisters all sitting in the cozy living room with him. His head in Miss Turry’s lap. Rumor held tea out
for him. “Drink this you will feel better”, she put it at his lips, it was wonderful, soothing, and sweet. He could not remember
what had happened, he only remembered walking up to the house with his siblings. “You fainted, I suppose from not eating”
Miss Turry said as she removed his head, and helped him sit up. “We will all have dinner and then you must rest.” It was a
wonderful dinner in a cozy little dining room with beautiful windows that looked out to a cottage garden, and a little town. As they
all left, they walked through a small kitchen, and off the kitchen was a tiny bedroom. “Miss Turry lives here?” Schemer asked
Whisper. “Yes, but it is magic” They stepped out the tiny door, and as Schemer looked back there was no little cottage door,
only giant double doors, with beautiful oak carvings, and that massive pink stone wall. This house was magic. “We are not allowed
to go Legerdemain unless we are asked,” Innuendo pierced him with a fiery glare, ”do you understand?” “Yes,” Schemer answered
resolutely, but only out of sheer reflex, for something in the word Legerdemain made Schemer look into the dark reservoirs of
his mind and start searching for something he could not yet put a name to.
Schemer had been playing by a small creek in his backyard when he noticed the reflection of a young woman in the water.
He looked up expecting to find her next to him on the bank, but no one was there. He touched the water with his finger stroking
the girls cheek. Suddenly he was submerged in water. Shock, then panic shot through him, but before he could react, a sweet calm
came over him settling his mind and his body. He drifted through the water, and came to rest on a small, unfamiliar beach.
He tried to get up to explore but his muscles felt like lead weights. Exhaustion overtook him, plunging him into an unwelcome sleep.
He couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, when he awoke. The girl from the water was standing over him and he was lying
in a bed with the most comfortable sheets and lovely quilts. The smell was sweet, with food, and flowers. He had to be dreaming,
had he hit his head? But somewhere in the back of his mind the smell was so familiar so embedded in his soul. Something he had been longing for, he didn’t recognize it yet, but it was the smell of home.Schemer is a young boy, not quite eleven. When he was a
baby, his parents had disappeared into the woods, no one knows whether it was by choice or not, but for whatever reason,
they had not been seen since. A kind-hearted old woman had taken Schemer in, but now the woman had become very ill, so ill
that Schemer did not think she would live much longer. Everyone in his small town in
and apprehension, although seemingly one out-weighed the other, for no one had yet stepped forward to offer Schemer a home.
Schemer had always been peculiar, the kind of peculiar that unsettles those around you. For one thing Schemer knew things about
people, things no one else knew, things people had never talked about, things they would never even dare tell their closest friends,
things he should not know. Schemer could also make people confess, sometimes to things they had not done. Then there were the
accidents, terrible accidents. No one could ever prove that he had caused them, yet he was always around when they happened.
The townspeople had grown very uneasy, many people were afraid of Schemer, some went so far as to plot revenge against him;
however, those conspirators were always the victims of unfortunate accidentsSo now Schemer lay in a beautiful bed while a
beautiful girl, almost a woman stared down at him. She took his hand, “welcome home brother”, her voice was beautiful, a watery
melodic quality that made him want to talk more with her. Had he heard it with his ears or just with his mind, he couldn’t be sure.
“I’m Rumor, one of your sisters, the others are coming,” she continued. Schemer did not know what she was talking about,
why did she say that she was his sister, where was he and why couldn’t he move?The room filled with noise, and three more
young ladies and a young man came bounding in. Rumor seemed to disappear into a watery mist. One of the young ladies came
forward, fire danced in her eyes and shot from her thoughts. It was hot when she touched his hand. “Welcome home Schemer,
we have been waiting for you for a long time. I’m Innuendo, your oldest sister. This is my twin Hint.” Hint stood staring at Schemer
but said nothing until Innuendo pushed him forward. “Yeah, hi, I’m Hint, I was born with no gifts, but I have heard you are
powerful.” Schemer was relieved to detect awe in Hint’s voice instead of fear or envy. A delightful breeze caressed his forehead
and played with his hair, comforting him. “ I‘m Whisper,” said another stranger who had suddenly appeared next to him.
She bent and kissed him. As she stood back up, he thought that she looked like she was floating, weightlessly. Then the last of the
girls approached him, this time he felt grounded, and whole, like he could walk again. He could feel the roots of his family weaving
their way into his body. “I‘m Secret,” she said with a hint of a smile, “you can walk again. The movement through passages always
renders a new body weak. Once you get used to it, you will be strong, and be able to guide yourself. For now you must use one
us, as Hint must, to travel through Legerdemain.” Secret reached out to rumple his hair and a rose fell from her hand the pedals
letting off a beautiful fragrance.Schemer pulled his legs out and swung them over the side of the bed. He was wearing white
pajamas, and began to wonder where his clothing was, and who had dressed him. Rumor smiled teasingly, and he knew at
once there would never be a secret in this house, that everyone knew your thoughts. “We cannot read everyone’s thoughts,
Secret can block her thoughts, and those around her, and Miss Turry’s mind cannot be penetrated even by the best of the
Legerdemains.” Schemer knew who Miss Turry was as the name slid out of Rumor’s mouth. She was a legend spoken of even
in the small town he had come from. A magical woman who had disappeared many years before any of them had been born.
It was said she still appeared in the town once in awhile and many claimed to have seen her. Some said she was the most beautiful
woman ever seen, and some claimed to have seen a weathered hag. It was said she had a home, somewhere in the mountains that
no one was able to find, that changed shape, and that looked very large from the outside, but was a quaint little cottage inside.
Reportedly, the mansion had walls of glassy swirling pink stone that looked like water, and grew beautiful roses that became the
wind, or burned with fire. No one seemed to know of any tails of evil deeds that Miss Turry had done, but people did not
understand who she was, what she was or where she lived, so, as is all too common when uncertainty is involved, people were
terribly afraid of her, but some claimed to be descendants all the same.“Where are we?” asked Schemer. “We are on the edge of
a town no one can see, on an estate that no one can find,” Innuendo’s red words sparked as she spoke them. “ Get dressed and
we will show you around,” Hint laughed at his brother. “Where are my clothes?” Schemer replied. Rumor reappeared for a
moment, to show him a closet he had not noticed. It was full of only white clothing. They all left him as he picked out a pair of
white pants, and a white shirt, and quickly dressed. He left through the same door they had, but when he opened it no one was
there, it was a wall. He heard Whisper, “You have to want to see us.“ He closed the door and opened it again, they were all
starring at him. Schemer was a tall boy, as tall as them, only with a young face full of distrust born by years of being treated as
an outsider.They all ran down the hall, and out another door to a large lawn. Up on a big hill sat a very large pink house.
Schemer stopped dead in his tracks, “is this the legendary house?”, he wondered to himself, “could it really all be true?”.
“Come on, we’re going to go see Miss Turry, she has been waiting for you,” Rumor yelled out in excitement. It was not often
they were invited up to the big house. “But, where are our parents?” asked Schemer. Everyone stopped and starred at him.
“Parents?” Hint asked” What are parents?” “Our Mother and our Father,” Schemer replied. Lightening struck as Schemer got
the words out, he felt himself being lifted into the air and a moment later he found himself sprawled across a floor in a quaint little
living room with an extraordinary woman looking down at him. His sisters and brother were no longer with him. “M-Miss Turry?”
Schemer timidly squeaked out, feeling a little frightened and more than a little bewildered. “Yes, I am. Let me help you up,”
she said as she took his hand and effortlessly lifted him into a chair. “I did not mean to frighten you with the lightening, but I cannot
have you talking to your siblings about your parents. Your mother and father have long since been gone, somewhere in
Legerdemain. In order to ease the pain, hide the emptiness, and protect them from trying to follow, all memories of your parents
have been taken from your sisters and brother. I do not want them to have that pain again, so I must take that memory from you
as well. Do you understand?” But before Schemer could say anything he felt a horribly cold hand across his forehead. As he fell
into Miss Turry’s arms, he tried desperately to hide the thought so he could find it later for instinctively he knew he would need it.
He awoke to his brother and sisters all sitting in the cozy living room with him. His head in Miss Turry’s lap. Rumor held tea out
for him. “Drink this you will feel better”, she put it at his lips, it was wonderful, soothing, and sweet. He could not remember
what had happened, he only remembered walking up to the house with his siblings. “You fainted, I suppose from not eating”
Miss Turry said as she removed his head, and helped him sit up. “We will all have dinner and then you must rest.” It was a
wonderful dinner in a cozy little dining room with beautiful windows that looked out to a cottage garden, and a little town. As they
all left, they walked through a small kitchen, and off the kitchen was a tiny bedroom. “Miss Turry lives here?” Schemer asked
Whisper. “Yes, but it is magic” They stepped out the tiny door, and as Schemer looked back there was no little cottage door,
only giant double doors, with beautiful oak carvings, and that massive pink stone wall. This house was magic. “We are not allowed
to go Legerdemain unless we are asked,” Innuendo pierced him with a fiery glare, ”do you understand?” “Yes,” Schemer answered
resolutely, but only out of sheer reflex, for something in the word Legerdemain made Schemer look into the dark reservoirs of
his mind and start searching for something he could not yet put a name to.
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