“The what?” Oliver asked.
“The vision well,” she repeated in a commanding voice. “It shows all things. Shows you what you desire to know. But seeing into it is not something to undertake lightly. It will change you. Possibly forever. And only the worthy are allowed to see the secrets it contains.”
Oliver gulped. He could feel Esther and Ralph beside him tense up.
“How do we know if we’re worthy?” Esther asked.
Sister Judith turned her piercing stare toward Esther. “I will need to look into your minds and call upon the celestial powers to tell me whether you are worthy enough.”
“We’ll do it,” Ralph said decisively.
Oliver nodded his agreement.
Esther stood up taller. “Yes. We’ll do it.”
“Very well,” Sister Judith said.
She advanced on Esther first and pressed her hand against her forehead. She began to mutter under her breath, speaking in a language that Oliver could not decipher. He watched with curiosity as the divine woman worked.
Then she removed her hand from Esther and let it flop to her side. Her expression was morose.
“You cannot enter the well.”
Esther pouted. “Why not?”
Sister Judith pursed her lips. Oliver could see the cogs in her mind turning. He wondered why.
“You already know why,” the woman said. “You’ve been told.”
Esther blanched and stepped back, retreating into the shadows as if needing to hide. Oliver frowned. He wondered what the cryptic message meant. It clearly resonated with Esther by her reaction. He decided that once the Orb was found, he would question her about it. But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand.
Sister Judith moved next to Ralph. She placed a hand on his forehead. Once again, she began to mutter a strange language under her breath. Then she drew back, a look of disappointment on her face.
“I’m not worthy either?” Ralph asked.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, young seer. Your powers are too weak.”
Ralph exhaled a sigh and pointed at himself. “No surprise there. I’m the worst student, after all. “
Finally, the head teacher turned to Oliver. She brought her hand up to his forehead.
He felt the strange coolness of her skin. It almost felt like a pulse was coming from her fingertips into his head.
Then a sudden pain jabbed him right between the eyes. Oliver winced and Sister Judith withdrew her hand as if she’d felt the pain as well. Her eyes went as round as full moons.
“Your specialism is atomic,” she said. “But you are a cobalt-bromine mix.”
“Yes,” Oliver said, nodding.
Samuel and Michael gasped.
“Then the vision well is for you,” Sister Judith told him. “It will show you its secrets. You are worthy.”
Oliver was stunned. He wanted to know what. What was so special about him that he’d been granted access to the vision well? But he had no chance. Because suddenly, the room changed all around them.
Oliver blinked in surprise as a new room came into focus. They were now standing in a dank basement with the sound of dripping coming from the distance. The bell tower was gone. Sister Judith was gone too. Instead, a waist-high stone wall built into a circle stood before them.
Oliver gasped. “The vision well.”