**
Hourglasses and a Scroll
An extra hand can be helpful.
-Harry Finkle
Robert was fit to be tied. Jack won’t help me fix the string that he broke in the first place! he thought. Okay, I shouldn’t have laughed under my breath when he banged his head, but it caught me by surprise. Jack shouldn’t be angry with me for that. And now he isn’t helping me at all with this string business, which is really important! Robert walked over to the broken string connected to the hourglass labeled ”AC-Corn” and examined it closely.
“I’ll fix you myself,” Robert said, frowning with determination. “But if I’m going to fix you I’ll have to be able to reach you up on that high shelf.”
Robert looked around for some way to elevate himself to eye level with the hourglass. He spotted an old, rickety wooden chair and dragged it over to the shelf holding the hourglass. Then he returned to the desk and grabbed the ball of string, as well as shears.
Robert stood on the chair and carefully measured the length of fragile string. He cut a new piece from the ball of string that was just the right length. He tied one end to the hourglass—but suddenly heard a loud crack! Robert set the other end of the string down and looked around, wondering what had made that sound.
All of a sudden the sound returned. Crack! Crack! Crack! The chair Robert was standing on started to buckle beneath him. Robert was thrown off balance and instinctively grabbed the shelf to keep from falling, but then just as quickly let go of it because he didn’t want to risk making the shelf crash down and break all the hourglasses.
Robert screamed as he fell and hit the floor. He then laid there crying and holding his elbow.
The door flew open, and Jack ran inside. “What happened?!” Jack exclaimed. When he saw Robert lying on the floor, weeping, he rushed to his side. “Are you all right?” Jack helped Robert to a sitting position.
Robert’s voice was choked by the sounds of his crying. “I tried to fix the string. The string that you broke. I tried to fix it myself, but the chair broke and I fell.”
Jack sighed. “I’m sorry, Robert. Are you all right? Let me help you up.” Jack lifted Robert to his feet, dusted him off and wiped away his tears. “I’m sorry I got upset with you earlier. It’s just that you startled me. I’ll help you fix the string now. Just let me go to Uncle Harry’s office and put something away. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
Jack ruffled Robert’s hair, feeling reassured that his little brother might end up with a few bruises, but nothing was broken. “Don’t touch anything, Robert. I’ll be right back.”
“All right then, Jack. All right,” Robert said, grinning once again. Jack was going to help him fix the string. All would be better now.
**
Jack hurried back to the office to put the small journal and scroll away so they wouldn’t be found. He didn’t want Lizzy finding them before he had a chance to read them.
When he got into the office, Jack walked to the desk and glanced up at the large map on the wall. “That’s strange.” Forgetting all about the journal and scroll, Jack made a closer inspection of the map. Several farms in Finkleton were now crisscrossed by small dashed lines. Those lines hadn’t been there before. The only lines that had been on the map previously were the ones drawn on Andrew Cornerly’s farm.
Jack touched the small lines, curious as to what they meant and how they got there. Eventually he just shook his head.
“I’ll have to figure you out later,” he said.
He placed the journal and scroll back into the hidden compartment and replaced the drawer so nobody would find them, then headed back to his brother in the hourglass room.
**
Robert inspected the hourglasses on the shelf that he’d accidentally grabbed as he fell. Some of them now tilted more than they had before.
“Oh my giddy aunt,” Robert exclaimed, then covered his mouth. “What have I done? I’ll fix you. I swear it!”
“What did you swear to?” Jack asked, walking up behind Robert.
Robert hung his head. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Jack about the hourglasses and their magical power over the rain. But then again, he had to trust somebody. He didn’t think he was going to be able to figure all this out on his own.
“The hourglasses. I have to fix them,” Robert said in a soft voice, then looked up at Jack.
Jack shrugged. “They don’t look broken. Except for this string here, of course.”
“You don’t understand Jack. The hourglasses...” Robert hesitated. He had decided he wanted to tell Jack, but wasn’t sure his big brother would believe him.
“Come out with it, Robert. What about the hourglasses?” Robert liked the way Jack was looking at him, paying close attention to what he was saying. “It’s all right. You can tell me.”
Robert grinned. “Yes. Yes, I believe I can. All right then. I think the hourglasses are magical.”
“Magical? You think the hourglasses are magical?” Jack said, and laughed.
Robert crossed his arms and huffed. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you!”
“Robert, it’s silly to think these hourglasses are magical. I’m not exactly sure why Uncle Harry would have so many hourglasses and all of these strings, but magical? I don’t really think so. But don’t worry. I’ll help you fix the broken string as I promised.” Jack ruffled Robert’s hair.
Robert crossed his arms over his chest, angry now. “I tell you they’re magical. They control the rain. I have to fix the calibration on the protractors connected to the hourglasses.”
“Oh come on. You can’t seriously believe they control the rain, Robert. Nobody can control the weather, just as Father said at dinner,” Jack said, shaking his head.
Robert was clearly annoyed. He said nothing as Jack fixed the broken string, but he watched closely to learn how to do it himself.
“There you go. Right as rain,” Jack said. “Now don’t be climbing up on any more chairs, all right? You need to be more careful.”
“Thanks, Jack.” Now that the string was fixed, Robert’s eyes were wide with joy. He didn’t care if Jack didn’t believe him. He was probably too old to believe in magic anyway.
“I’ll be in Uncle Harry’s office if you need me. Now don’t you be causing any floods, you hear?” Jack chuckled as he left the hourglass room.
Robert ignored Jack’s sarcastic comment. “All right,” he said, looking around at the hourglasses. “It’s time to fix each of you.”
Robert opened the journal and began the task of matching the label on each disrupted hourglass with its entry in the journal. After locating an entry, he noted the degrees of calibration for that hourglass, and adjusted it until it was at the correct angle again.
It took Robert a couple of hours to reset all the hourglasses properly. But he got the job done.
After he’d fixed the hourglasses he’d accidentally moved, Robert decided it would be a good idea to double-check on all the hourglasses in the room. He wanted to make sure each one was in the right position, and that each string was good and strong.
These hourglasses are very important, Robert thought, and someone must take care of them. I guess that job is mine now. I might ask Jack for help in changing a string once in a while, but when I grow taller I’ll be able to do it all on my own.
**
Down the hall, Jack strolled back into the office, still chuckling over what Robert had told him. He tugged the drawer out of the desk and moved the lever to reveal the hidden compartment, then pulled out the small journal and scroll.
Jack opened the journal and began to read its entries. He didn’t understand the unusual writing. Some of the sentences seemed like riddles and were hard to decipher. For example, one of them read, “Finkleton, sister to air and fire, daughter of Mother Nature.”
Jack read a few more passages and became intrigued. The writings said Finkleton was the center of some kind of conduction current. According to the journal, Finkleton had the ability to push and pull at the magnetic atmosphere, which could be controlled.
Jack also read that Finkleton covered 25,000 acres of land.
“Hmph,” Jack said, shaking his head at the book. “That’s the only thing I understand from reading you.”
Jack set the journal on the desk and picked up the scroll just as he heard a door shut down the hall. The sound of footsteps came closer to the office and slowed to a stop.
Robert peeked in. “Hello, Jack.”
“Hello, Robert. Did you manage to fix your hourglasses without breaking anything or causing any floods?”
Robert’s face burst into a huge smile. “As a matter of fact, I did!”
“I’m happy for you,” Jack said. Once again he wished his little brother would be on his way. He wanted to inspect the scroll that he had found in the hidden compartment, and he wanted to do it in privacy.
“I’m glad to see you’re not under the desk,” Robert said, giggling.
“I’m glad of it too. I don’t think my head could’ve taken another beating.” The brothers both laughed.
Robert left after a few minutes, and Jack unrolled the scroll. It wasn’t just any scroll. It was a deed to 5,000 acres of land that had belonged to the Finkle family for many years. Jack lifted the scroll and turned around, facing the large map on the wall. He held the deed up to the map, trying to locate the exact area where the land lay. He found it in the most northern part of Finkleton.
As Jack studied the map, he noticed something odd. He looked, then looked again.
“What’s this?” Jack mumbled.
The small dash lines on the map were gone. Every one of them had disappeared, including the small lines drawn on Andrew Cornerly’s farm.
Jack pondered the lines. First they weren’t there, then they were, and now they’re gone again. How can that be? he wondered.
Jack paused. Could Robert possibly be right about the hourglasses?
Jack yanked open the office door and yelled down the hall. “Robert! Robert! Would you please come here?”
Jack heard the sounds of footsteps rushing to the office. Robert arrived, out of breath. “What do you need, Jack?”
“Robert, I’m not going to laugh at you anymore. Come in here and tell me what you know about the hourglasses.” Jack raised his eyebrow and slowly eased down in the chair behind the desk.
Robert smiled. “It’s like I told you, Jack. They’re magic.”