A week after I was pardoned from the Amen Corner, Mother and Father called me to the kitchen table.

It was a real relief when I saw they didn’t have any other pieces of fake evidence that Patience had come up with. This meeting was about something other than a bunch of lies told about me.

Father said, “Benjamin, your mother and I have decided that it’s far past the time you learned the value of money.”

“Sir?”

“Some of your actions show you don’t have no real ’preciation of the cost of getting by from day to day. You needs to start getting paid so you can understand how rough it is to get a dime. You’ve got to learn the only things that come cheap or easy is cheap and easy things.”

“Does that mean I’m going to get an allowance like Spencer does?”

Mother said, “No! Whoever heard of paying a child to do what they’re supposed to do? That’s nonsense. What it means is we think you’re old enough to start working outside of the home.”

“Really?”

This was great news!

Patience and Stubby had been working as apprentices for Mr. Craig the carpenter for almost a year now, and while it’s true that everyone said they were geniuses with wood and the sooner they got started the better, I’m older and Mother and Father still wouldn’t let me do anything but chores and schoolwork.

“Really.” Mother reached across the table to hold my hand and said, “But that’s not the good part of the news.”

“Oh, Mother, what could be better news than that?”

“It’s where you’re going to be working!”

She looked at Father and said, “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

Father cleared his throat and said, “Benjamin, what is it you’re always going on and on about wanting to be one day?”

“A hermit?”

“The other job.”

“A newspaperman?”

“That’s the one.”

“You know who Mary Ann Shadd was?”

“Yes, sir, she was the editor of the Provincial Freeman a long time ago.”

Mother said, “Correct. And you know the Creator has a master plan, so it’s no coincidence that Miss Shadd and your Gramma Alston knew each other back in Wilmington, Delaware, in the States. Well, when I heard that her daughter, Sarah Cary, had moved back to Chatham and is starting up a paper of her own, I knew it was time I paid her a visit.”

Mother squeezed my hand. “Benjamin, she’s agreed to take you on as an apprentice! Twice a week after school, you’ll go to Chatham and work with her and learn about publishing and writing a newspaper!”

I was too overjoyed to speak.

“You know of course that you won’t be writing any articles at first. In between cleaning and etching, you’ll learn about typesetting and inking and such.”

Father said, “Be truthful with him, TooToo. You’re gonna be a errand boy at the start.”

“I don’t care! Any job working on a paper will be great!”

Mother said, “We have to tell you the same thing we told Patience and Timothy when they started working with Mr. Craig. We are sending you out into the world as a representative of the Alstons now. Every action you take, every word you say, every way you come in contact with neighbours and friends will be a reflection on this family. Don’t say or do anything that you wouldn’t say or do in front of me and your father.”

Father said, “You been raised proper; you know what’s expected of you.”

He began counting a list on his fingers. “You must work hard, you must never be late, you must be courteous, you must stay busy, you must keep your eyes open for work that ain’t expected of you and dash to do it. Your goal gotta be to make Miss Cary feel by hiring you she’s the luckiest person in the world. If you always keep that in mind, you’ll make us proud.”

“Oh, Mother, Father, you have no idea how happy I am! I’ll make you very proud!”

Mother said, “We know you’ll do a good job, son. Now, Miss Cary’s a substantial woman, Benji; she wouldn’t just take you on because her mother and your grandmother were friends, no, sir. We’ve been working on this for weeks. She even had me bring some of your school writings over, and it wasn’t until after she read them that she agreed to take you on.

“Her exact words were, ‘Real talent and potential!’ ”

Father said, “This ain’t something you getting handed, son. You got your foot in the door and now it’s up to you.”

Mother said, “That’s right, Benjamin, and we’re expecting you to kick that door down! And to help you out …”

She pulled a large cardboard box from under the table and slid it toward me.

Written across the box were the words CLARK STEEL-TOED REINFORCED BOOTS.

When I pulled the top off the box, that sweet strong smell of freshly tanned leather filled the room! The boots were black with high tops and laces. I picked one up. It weighed a ton!

“Oh, Mother, Father, thank you so much!”

I laced them on. A perfect fit.

Mother was just as excited as I was. She said, “Timothy, your turn!”

Father reached under his side of the table and pulled out a brand-new pair of heavy leather gloves. I put them on.

Mother handed me a square pencil and said, “Everyone in Miss Cary’s office has one of these behind their ear. Let’s see how it looks on you.”

I didn’t have a mirror, but by Mother and Father’s grins, I knew it looked great.

“Timothy? Stop slowing this down!”

There was more!

Father handed me what looked like a strange-shaped boat made out of folded newspapers.

Mother said, “Everyone there wore one of these to keep ink and dust out of their hair!”

Another perfect fit.

Next she handed me a gift-wrapped package.

I pulled the ribbon and paper away to see a beautiful folded apron made out of blue jean material. Best of all, Mother had embroidered BENJAMIN in bright gold letters across the top middle pocket.

“Oh, Mother!” was all I could say.

She said, “Now, Benji, when I ordered this, they told me it was the John Deere of printing aprons, but there’s one thing I’m embarrassed to have to tell you. But it can be fixed.”

Father laughed. “One minor detail.”

I unfolded the apron. It had more pockets than I could count and so many snaps and flaps, it would take days to figure out what they were used for.

I slipped the top strap over my head and tied the two strings behind me. When I looked down, I saw the minor detail Father was laughing at.

Mother said, “Now, I did that late last night. That’s no excuse, but I was dead tired and should have waited, but I was too excited to give this to you! Don’t worry, I can fix it later.”

When Mother had embroidered my name on, she’d done it upside down.

“Oh, Mother, it’s perfect like it is. I’ll be the only person in the world with one like this. May I run over and tell Spencer?”

I fought the tears that for some reason were trying to pop out of my eyes, hugged my parents, and headed over to Spence’s home to share the news.

Patience and Stubby were coming in the door just as I was going out.

I grabbed Stubby and twirled him around. I gave Pay a big kiss on her forehead. As I closed the door to run to Spence’s, Stubby looked worried and Patience looked disgusted.

This was the start of something big for me, and Spencer was the first person I wanted to share it with.

Everyone in Buxton thought and hoped this would be Spencer’s year to win the public speaking contest, and I had always been sort of jealous. Even though we were best friends, it seemed like he was doing so much better than me, like he was getting noticed and appreciated and I wasn’t. I know it’s silly, but it’s what I couldn’t help feeling.

But now that was going to change! Now we’d be moving up together! It wouldn’t be long before he was Canada’s greatest lawyer and I was Canada’s greatest newspaperman!

And the strange thing was we both were doing it because we loved what words could do.

We both wanted to be like those people who can magically make words do all sorts of things. In the right hands, words can move more bricks than the strongest team of mules. And what I don’t get is that while most of us can talk and a whole bunch of us can write, there are only the teeny-weenyest number of people who know how to make words do magic.

I mean, words are made up of letters, nothing more. And there are only twenty-six of them and they’re there for all of us to use. There’s no one saying, “No, you can’t use these letters; they’re saved only for that certain group.” It’s the same twenty-six letters, taught to most of us, but only a few can make those letters fall into words and do tricks and lift bricks and move mountains.

There’s no denying that some people can make words do miracles.

Take making someone laugh.

How is it possible that one person can use only words to make another person laugh? Without tickling them, without making a silly face, without doing something foolish, they just make those twenty-six letters fall in a certain order, and for no good reason, I can see your eyes narrow, your cheeks get pulled up, your lips separate, your teeth show, and before you know what’s hit you, those twenty-six letters have you doubled over laughing.

Now that’s magic.

Now that’s power.

If I could get the letters to behave properly for me, I was going to use them to explain to my best friend why writing words is better than speaking them.

I knew it would be hard to do. Maybe I should write it to him instead of telling him.

When I ran up on Spencer’s porch, today’s headline didn’t need any thought:

SHOCKING DISCOVERY! NEWSPAPERMAN STUNNED TO LEARN PARENTS HAVE CHANGED INTO SUCH WONDERFUL PEOPLE!