Chapter Seven - Casting Lots.
As we entered through the porch, I could not help but wonder where this school actually was – I started to feel that Jack had raised a valid point. Knowing that the school was underground was not telling us exactly where you enter underground. I gazed around at my surroundings, looking for clues.
I looked back and noticed that Misty was holding her sister’s hand and conferring with her: ‘So, how are you feeling so far?’
‘Well, thank you sis.’
‘Do you like your surroundings?’
‘It looks good so far.’ she smiled.
‘Say, are we allowed to wander off and explore this place?’ I asked Will.
‘Of course not!’ he laughed. ‘How would you ever find your way back? You haven’t even been sorted into houses yet.’
‘Where are we going?‘ said Emily, as we noticed the line of students entering a small room at the back of the church.
‘You’ll see.’ said Will, chuckling.
‘Well, by process of elimination.’ said Starla, keen to outdo Emily who was also a well-known know–it-all. ‘Since we saw the outside of this building and saw that it was just a normal church building in its exterior – no extra floors or anything – I would say that we are going underground, starting with that room.’
‘I guess so.’ said Emily, looking put out.
‘You don’t have to be so mean.’ I said, wheeling on Starla as soon as Emily was out of sight.
‘What?’ she said, unaware that she had said anything to offend. ‘I just figured the answer out, is all.’
‘Oh, ok.’ I said, seeing from her eyes that she meant it. ‘Sorry.’
The queue of students was more like a crowd, as they filtered through what I could only see as the doorway to the tower.
As we got closer, I saw that the students lined up beside a staircase. A window cast light from the cloudy sunset as red, gold and purple streaked the walls.
The students were gradually descending the old, wooden staircase, down a long flight of stairs that seemed to open up into a vast chasm, lit with flaming torches beneath them, where countless other students were seen descending also.
Emily stood there stunned, staring down into the deep chasm, letting out a little squeal as she heard the staircase creak.
‘You are kidding me.’ said Rocinda, seeing the chasm. ‘We’re not going down there.’
‘Um, are we sure this is entirely safe?’ asked Emily.
‘Oh, come on.’ said Jack, before seeing the chasm. ‘Blimey!’
‘I’m sure it’ll be ok.’ I said, putting on a brave face though gulping. ‘I’ll go first if you want?’
They all hastily agreed.
I was glad the stairs had a banister, which I saw many cling to for support – one student was even slouched against the wall, refusing to move – but being comforted and encouraged by a prefect. Glitch and Felicity were there, trying to help out.
‘Poor kid,’ said Glitch, as I got close. ‘he was one of the worst on the whale; rocking back and forth all the time.’
I saw that the kid was clinging onto the banister for dear life, fortunately at a spot where others could pass him easily enough. He had pale skin and sandy coloured hair.
‘Ah, it’s not so bad!’ said Drew, loudly, before seeing the kid. ‘I’m not afraid of heights! – Oh, sorry mate!’
‘Speak for yerself! Yer’d think they’d have an escalator or sumat.’ grumbled Jack, as they descended carefully. ‘Poor kid.’
‘’Urry up!’ called an older year with a chameleon on his shoulder – black, because of the boy’s cloak.
‘Alri’, alri’!’ said Jack. ‘Keep yer ‘air on!’
‘You’ll be trying to keep your ‘air on, if I catch up wit’ cha!’ he called back.
‘Not all these Christians are that friendly, eh?’ remarked Jack as he turned back to the task of descending the staircase.
‘Calm down, Matt. They’re only first years!’ called Will. ‘It takes some getting used to – these stairs. Not all are immune to the fear of heights you know.’
‘What happens if someone falls?’ whispered Jack, anxiously.
‘Oh don’t say that!’ said Emily, clinging to him.
‘I’m sure they won’t.’ said Jack, suddenly trying to comfort her.
‘Don’t worry if you fall!’ jeered Matt, loudly and coincidently. ‘Maybe God will bring you back!’
‘Oh shut up, Matt!’ groaned a load of older years.
When we finally got down to the bottom we saw students cramming through various tunnels, carved through the rock.
These tunnels dripped water in places, causing loud echoing. We could also see which tunnels were used the most by the length of the various stalagmites and stalagtites (The shorter they were, the more used the tunnel was). We could also see that the floor of some tunnels were more worn than others, indicating that most students passed through that way, wearing away the stone floor.
Many creatures inhabited this area, including: rabbits, foxes and badgers – none of which seemed daunted by the prospect of a whole school passing through.
‘I wonder if there are bats.’ said Jack, gazing up at the high ceiling.
‘I wonder where we are going.’ I said, wanting to focus on more relevant matters.
‘These animals are very tame.’ said Rocinda, bending down to stroke a baby rabbit. ‘Aww, it’s so cute!’
‘I guess they must be,’ said Emily, sharing her enthusiasm and bending down also. ‘with all these students about.’
‘Are there any creatures that don’t take up residence in this place?’ I said, moodily, as yet another rabbit got in the way. ‘I mean, this is ridiculous!’
‘Aww, but they’re sooo cute.’ said Rocinda, crouching down to stroke another rabbit that seemed to snuggle against her leg. ‘How could you not like them?’
‘Boys.’ said Emily, in way of explanation.
‘Oi!’ said Jack, indignant. ‘We just prefer more interesting animals is all – like bats and wolves!’
‘Whatever!’ sighed Emily, rolling her eyes again.
Our tunnel now joined many others and opened up into a much larger tunnel, where crowds of students flooded through into a large cavern, with about half as high a ceiling as Resource Rock had. In here were four long, crescent shaped tables for the four houses (indicated by the House banners at the end of each table) and a top table, rectangular and full of teachers. The house banners depicted the house emblems: a silver horse, a purple ox, a silver lizard and a white ibis. The horse and the ox had green backgrounds, whilst the lizard and ibis had blue.
The prefects directed the first years to the clearing between the tables before sitting at their own tables, Will giving us a wink and Misty, waving.
‘SILENCE!’ shouted a tall, broad shouldered man.
The room fell silent instantly as he approached us.
‘Form a circle please.’ he said, politely. When we had done so, he continued. ‘I am a teacher at this school, you may refer to me as Mr Juvian or, simply, ‘Sir’. Welcome to Yellowhorn’s Secondary School for Saints. This is the sorting ceremony – it is quite simple, though students tend to take a while – all you need do is take one of these die and throw it. The number on the dice corresponds to the various houses: numbers one to four mean Ibis, Lizard, Horse and Ox. Ignore numbers five and six. Once you have a dice, feel free to throw it - and keep track of them! Now, let us pray for God’s will to be done: ‘Heavenly Father, please sort us into the houses you would have us in today, and help us to do your will, more importantly. We ask in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord. Thank you for your response, Amen.’’
This was followed by a loud ‘Amen’ from the students, as the die were handed out. At first there was silence and everybody just seemed to look at the dice in their hand, hesitating.
‘Well go on then!’ boomed Mr Juvian, as the shock made many students drop their dice and many others decide to throw.
There was instant chaos. Die flew everywhere, students chased them, knocked heads bending down once they got them, trod on them, slipped over, fell over, lost them - and the noise was overwhelming! Some forgot that five and six did not count and others simply forgot which number corresponded to which house. Finally, after a few minutes of Mr Juvian looking amused and students looking confused, Mr Juvian intervened.
‘STOP!’ he yelled. ‘Be glad that this wasn’t the real test, ladies and gentlemen – for you would have failed!’ Several of us looked downhearted at this point. ‘However, do not let the great emptiness of the chasm outside fill your hearts. – Nobody else has passed this test either! In fact, every year so far, students have all made the mistake of putting themselves first. Furthermore, perhaps some of you did wait, in which case I apologise to those students. Lesson one, ladies and gentlemen, is to put others first. It is outlined in Matthew, chapter twenty, verse sixteen: So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’
At this point I noticed a few students take out a notebook and pen to jot it down – Starla and Emily being two of them. ‘Ok, so this time I want you all to pick up your dice, if you have dropped it and return to the circle. Everyone else stand still until they return.’ Three quarters of the group stepped forward to retrieve their dice and I noticed at this point that both Seth and Josie took a dice from someone else, since theirs was too far away from them to bother with. ‘Now, I will call you out in alphabetical order – starting from first name, then last - to cast your dice into this bowl. Once you have your number, return your dice to the prefect on my right then go to your new house table.’
This happened in a much more orderly fashion, though it was not without incident. The list started with Abigail Allus, who looked like she was going to throw up.
‘Ox!’ yelled Juvian, as she strode over, shaking.
She was followed by Abraham Abercrombie who looked more confident, now that he realised he wasn’t first. He also joined the Ox table. Next was Adam Grove who strode over confidently, tripped up on his shoe laces and landed with his hand in the bowl as he steadied himself, dice dropped.
‘That’ll do.’ chuckled Mr Juvian. ‘Horse House.’
Then came Abigail Gweldon, who strode up, whispered: ‘It’s Abbi.’ and passed by with a smile, noticing that she had joined the House of Ibis before she ran off.
Soon followed Drew (who’s surname was ‘Cale’), confident also and forward rolling with a ‘BOO YAH!’ and a smile when he heard he was in Lizard House, to the giggling of many girls.
‘Show off.’ grunted Seth.
I was just blown away at his confidence.
‘Seriously?’ said Jack, annoyed that he didn’t feel so confident.
When Emily’s turn came, she trembled forward, dropping the dice without even shaking it, into the bowl.
‘That’ll do, you didn’t know which number it would be, did you?’ said Mr Juvian.
‘N-no.’ she said, but seeing it, looked confused and slightly upset.
‘Did you want another go?’ he asked. ‘I don’t know if that cou-‘
‘No.’ she said, seeming to accept her fate as she walked stiffly towards the teacher table and then around to the Ox table.
‘What?!’ whispered Jack, beside me.
I stood there, stunned.
‘Should I tell him he’s made a mistake?’ said Jack, bewildered.
‘No, don’t cause a scene,’ said Starla. ‘because she won’t appreciate it. Besides, it can be repealed later, if the decision is wrong.’
‘Of course it’s wrong!’ protested Jack. ‘If you knew her then you’d know!’
‘And how long did you know her?’ asked Starla, supposing that it was not much longer.
‘She’s right mate.’ I said, shrugging. ‘We hardly really knew her.’
‘Quiet!’ said Mr Juvian, as Faye Brown skipped off merrily to join the Horse table.
‘What’s wrong with the House of Ox, Glitch?’ said Felicity, confused.
‘Uh, nothing really, Felicity.’ she said, shrugging. ‘But some people think that it is of less worth to have much strength but little else.’
‘Too right!’ butted in Seth. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in that loser house, right sis?’
‘Right!’ said Josie. ‘That house is for those who are cowardly and dumb.’
‘Huh?!’ said Felicity, looking worried.
‘Don’t worry, Felicity.’ said Glitch, scowling at them. ‘They’re just being mean! No such thing as a bad house to be in, in here.’
‘Yeah, shut up!’ Jack said to Seth.
‘Trust you to say such a thing!’ I scowled at Josie.
‘What do you mean?’ said Seth, clenching a fist, but Josie put her hand on his arm.
‘There’ll be time later.’ she hissed.
‘But how does he know you, sis?’
‘I’ll tell you later.’ she hissed again.
‘Felicity Brogund!’ came Juvian.
‘Poor girl,’ said Jack. ‘after hearing that, she must be worried.’
But she wandered over in a daydream, almost; she seemed totally unfazed.
‘Lizard.’ said Juvian, before watching her wander in the wrong direction.
‘Oh.’ she said when she was redirected by a student at the Ibis table who looked like he thought that she belonged at any table but the Ibis table.
A lady who looked much like her mother, smiled at her as she passed the top table.
There were quite some characters amongs the students, including: Eddie Groove, who street-danced over to Lizard before Felicity had stepped up; Fergus Cross who scurried forward, unfortunately looking like a rat in features as well as action, before joining the Horse table; then Fred Toll, a black boy, took five, long shakes of the dice to be sure, to a disgruntled Mr Juvian.
‘Gareth Kirt.’ came Mr Juvian.
I stepped over awkwardly, wondering which house I would like to be in; it suddenly occurred to me that I only knew which characteristics were associated with the Houses of Ibis and Ox and had no idea of the gifts expected. I panicked and said a small prayer, feeling that the time had come too quickly – shouldn’t we take longer over such an important decision? I tried to remind myself that it could be repealed; this did not have to be final. I was in front of Mr Juvian. I hoped that there really was no bad house to be in. I tried to throw the dice in a curve, so as to give it a spin when it landed and draw out the decision a little longer. It spun for what felt like several minutes before landing with a face up:
‘Two.’ said Mr Juvian. ‘That means Lizard and Mr Ruffel as your Head of House.’
I gave a sigh of relief, now that the ordeal was over. Although I still did not know what this really meant – or whether it should mean anything. I found a place at the Lizard table after passing the top table and receiving a wink from a man with a white moustache and bowler hat. I smiled but was slightly unnerved as I sat down opposite Felicity Brogund and next to Drew, who shook my hand and indicated the seat next to him, coolly.
‘Well done, mate.’
‘Uh, thanks.’ I said, feeling uncomfortable. ‘Looks like half of us are in the same house!’
‘Glitch Fountain.’
Glitch strode over, looking determined now that it was her turn. She stared at Mr Juvian expectantly as her dice bounced around the bowl.
‘Lizard!’ he beamed.
‘Yay!’ said Felicity, smiling as Glitch ran over to join us.
Grant Solar, a butch boy grunted at his result as he strode coolly over to Horse House; Hank Taylor pushed up his glasses before joining Ibis and Horace Glow, portly in appearance, seemed out of breath solely from the journey to Ox table.
It was soon Jack’s turn. He was pale and shaking now. I prayed he joined the right table, but hoped it was mine.
‘Lizard!’ beamed Juvian again.
‘Phew!’ said Jack, with a smile and a high-five as he reached me. ‘Glad that’s over – now our fates our intertwined.’
‘Ha!’ I laughed. ‘Hope you’re good at homework, cos I’m not.’
‘That’s where our fates are intertwined – maybe we can ask Emily for help!’
‘Good idea!’ I said.
I was glad to have Jack in the same house as me; it was good to have someone I knew for the times ahead.
At this point, I heard Josie’s name being called, followed by ‘Tolar’. I looked over and saw her, the most arrogant looking girl there – not at all affected by nerves. She dropped the dice and ended up at the Horse table. It was now that I wished there was a bad house for her to go into. Our eyes connected and she smirked as I sneered.
‘What’s she doing in Horse House?!’ I said, annoyed.
‘Who? Oh her.’ said Jack, noticing who I was looking at. ‘I dunno, what do yer have against her anyway?’
I told him all about the meeting at Resource Rock.
‘Wow, how did she get in?’ he said, when I had finished.
‘Her mum probably let her in.’ grunted Drew, without looking at us. ‘You did the right thing.’
‘Uh thanks.’ I said, not sure what to say.
‘Oh, that’s who it is!’ I said, suddenly realising who the strange man in white was. ‘It’s Dwindle Berry!’
‘Dwindle Berry?! Where?’ asked Jack, looking up at the top table.
‘Up there, in white.’ I said, pointing.
At the moment he looked very serious and watched the sorting with interest, bristling his moustache.
We were now on Mark Porfuss, who seemed the most nervous of the lot, just standing stock still and shaking his head. I recognised him as the boy who rocked back and forth on the whale, and clung on tight to the banister. He came over to join us, whilst I wondered what exactly qualified for joining the Lizard House.
After him came Minnie Zolar, who sucked her thumb; Natalie Yula, who bit her nails; Peter Porfuss, the more confident twin brother of Mark, joined the Horse table; Rocinda Darfy, who joined Emily.
‘Oh good, at least Emily has somebody she knows now.’ I said.
‘Oh yeah,’ said Jack. ‘that’ll be good for her.’
Emily indeed brightened at this news, standing up to hug her before she sat down, next to her.
Seth reacted with the same smug attitude as his sister; swaggering over to drop the dice then join her in the Horse House.
‘Hmm, he reminds me of his sister.’ said Drew, unsurprised.
‘Hey guys,’ said Starla, as she approached, trembling slightly. ‘mind if I sit here?’
‘Hey, not at all.’ I said, trying to be friendly, though receiving an unwelcome look from Jack. ‘How are you?’
‘Well thanks.’ she said, sitting next to him, who screwed up his face in irritation.
Soon the list reached Vale Tor, a tall, thin boy who strode confidently up to the Horse table, followed by Vixen Farm, a red haired girl with pig tails. The crowd only contained about a handful of people now.
‘Thanks!’ grunted Jack, but laughing all the same.
Finally, we were onto the last student: Zack Ugua.
‘What a name!’ laughed Jack. ‘I’d love to be called that.’
‘It is not wise to be last!’ I said, observing Zack tremble over to Ibis table.
As applause rent the air from all tables, the man in white who winked at me earlier, stood up.
‘Oh, by the way,’ said Mr Juvian, realising that he had forgotten something: ‘all houses have their aspirations: Horse House have bravery as their main aim with speaking in tongues and miraculous powers as their main gifts; Ibis House have wisdom – also as their main gift, along with the message of knowledge and the gift of prophecy; Ox House have strength, along with the gifts of healing and faith; as for Lizard House, they have resourcefulness, the gift of discerning spirits and the gift of interpreting tongues. Of course, these are generalisations – if you wish to find the Bible references then read the Book of Job.
‘Thank you, Mr Juvian.’ said the man in white, courteously, as Mr Juvian returned to his place at the top table.
I looked back and noticed that Misty was holding her sister’s hand and conferring with her: ‘So, how are you feeling so far?’
‘Well, thank you sis.’
‘Do you like your surroundings?’
‘It looks good so far.’ she smiled.
‘Say, are we allowed to wander off and explore this place?’ I asked Will.
‘Of course not!’ he laughed. ‘How would you ever find your way back? You haven’t even been sorted into houses yet.’
‘Where are we going?‘ said Emily, as we noticed the line of students entering a small room at the back of the church.
‘You’ll see.’ said Will, chuckling.
‘Well, by process of elimination.’ said Starla, keen to outdo Emily who was also a well-known know–it-all. ‘Since we saw the outside of this building and saw that it was just a normal church building in its exterior – no extra floors or anything – I would say that we are going underground, starting with that room.’
‘I guess so.’ said Emily, looking put out.
‘You don’t have to be so mean.’ I said, wheeling on Starla as soon as Emily was out of sight.
‘What?’ she said, unaware that she had said anything to offend. ‘I just figured the answer out, is all.’
‘Oh, ok.’ I said, seeing from her eyes that she meant it. ‘Sorry.’
The queue of students was more like a crowd, as they filtered through what I could only see as the doorway to the tower.
As we got closer, I saw that the students lined up beside a staircase. A window cast light from the cloudy sunset as red, gold and purple streaked the walls.
The students were gradually descending the old, wooden staircase, down a long flight of stairs that seemed to open up into a vast chasm, lit with flaming torches beneath them, where countless other students were seen descending also.
Emily stood there stunned, staring down into the deep chasm, letting out a little squeal as she heard the staircase creak.
‘You are kidding me.’ said Rocinda, seeing the chasm. ‘We’re not going down there.’
‘Um, are we sure this is entirely safe?’ asked Emily.
‘Oh, come on.’ said Jack, before seeing the chasm. ‘Blimey!’
‘I’m sure it’ll be ok.’ I said, putting on a brave face though gulping. ‘I’ll go first if you want?’
They all hastily agreed.
I was glad the stairs had a banister, which I saw many cling to for support – one student was even slouched against the wall, refusing to move – but being comforted and encouraged by a prefect. Glitch and Felicity were there, trying to help out.
‘Poor kid,’ said Glitch, as I got close. ‘he was one of the worst on the whale; rocking back and forth all the time.’
I saw that the kid was clinging onto the banister for dear life, fortunately at a spot where others could pass him easily enough. He had pale skin and sandy coloured hair.
‘Ah, it’s not so bad!’ said Drew, loudly, before seeing the kid. ‘I’m not afraid of heights! – Oh, sorry mate!’
‘Speak for yerself! Yer’d think they’d have an escalator or sumat.’ grumbled Jack, as they descended carefully. ‘Poor kid.’
‘’Urry up!’ called an older year with a chameleon on his shoulder – black, because of the boy’s cloak.
‘Alri’, alri’!’ said Jack. ‘Keep yer ‘air on!’
‘You’ll be trying to keep your ‘air on, if I catch up wit’ cha!’ he called back.
‘Not all these Christians are that friendly, eh?’ remarked Jack as he turned back to the task of descending the staircase.
‘Calm down, Matt. They’re only first years!’ called Will. ‘It takes some getting used to – these stairs. Not all are immune to the fear of heights you know.’
‘What happens if someone falls?’ whispered Jack, anxiously.
‘Oh don’t say that!’ said Emily, clinging to him.
‘I’m sure they won’t.’ said Jack, suddenly trying to comfort her.
‘Don’t worry if you fall!’ jeered Matt, loudly and coincidently. ‘Maybe God will bring you back!’
‘Oh shut up, Matt!’ groaned a load of older years.
When we finally got down to the bottom we saw students cramming through various tunnels, carved through the rock.
These tunnels dripped water in places, causing loud echoing. We could also see which tunnels were used the most by the length of the various stalagmites and stalagtites (The shorter they were, the more used the tunnel was). We could also see that the floor of some tunnels were more worn than others, indicating that most students passed through that way, wearing away the stone floor.
Many creatures inhabited this area, including: rabbits, foxes and badgers – none of which seemed daunted by the prospect of a whole school passing through.
‘I wonder if there are bats.’ said Jack, gazing up at the high ceiling.
‘I wonder where we are going.’ I said, wanting to focus on more relevant matters.
‘These animals are very tame.’ said Rocinda, bending down to stroke a baby rabbit. ‘Aww, it’s so cute!’
‘I guess they must be,’ said Emily, sharing her enthusiasm and bending down also. ‘with all these students about.’
‘Are there any creatures that don’t take up residence in this place?’ I said, moodily, as yet another rabbit got in the way. ‘I mean, this is ridiculous!’
‘Aww, but they’re sooo cute.’ said Rocinda, crouching down to stroke another rabbit that seemed to snuggle against her leg. ‘How could you not like them?’
‘Boys.’ said Emily, in way of explanation.
‘Oi!’ said Jack, indignant. ‘We just prefer more interesting animals is all – like bats and wolves!’
‘Whatever!’ sighed Emily, rolling her eyes again.
Our tunnel now joined many others and opened up into a much larger tunnel, where crowds of students flooded through into a large cavern, with about half as high a ceiling as Resource Rock had. In here were four long, crescent shaped tables for the four houses (indicated by the House banners at the end of each table) and a top table, rectangular and full of teachers. The house banners depicted the house emblems: a silver horse, a purple ox, a silver lizard and a white ibis. The horse and the ox had green backgrounds, whilst the lizard and ibis had blue.
The prefects directed the first years to the clearing between the tables before sitting at their own tables, Will giving us a wink and Misty, waving.
‘SILENCE!’ shouted a tall, broad shouldered man.
The room fell silent instantly as he approached us.
‘Form a circle please.’ he said, politely. When we had done so, he continued. ‘I am a teacher at this school, you may refer to me as Mr Juvian or, simply, ‘Sir’. Welcome to Yellowhorn’s Secondary School for Saints. This is the sorting ceremony – it is quite simple, though students tend to take a while – all you need do is take one of these die and throw it. The number on the dice corresponds to the various houses: numbers one to four mean Ibis, Lizard, Horse and Ox. Ignore numbers five and six. Once you have a dice, feel free to throw it - and keep track of them! Now, let us pray for God’s will to be done: ‘Heavenly Father, please sort us into the houses you would have us in today, and help us to do your will, more importantly. We ask in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and Lord. Thank you for your response, Amen.’’
This was followed by a loud ‘Amen’ from the students, as the die were handed out. At first there was silence and everybody just seemed to look at the dice in their hand, hesitating.
‘Well go on then!’ boomed Mr Juvian, as the shock made many students drop their dice and many others decide to throw.
There was instant chaos. Die flew everywhere, students chased them, knocked heads bending down once they got them, trod on them, slipped over, fell over, lost them - and the noise was overwhelming! Some forgot that five and six did not count and others simply forgot which number corresponded to which house. Finally, after a few minutes of Mr Juvian looking amused and students looking confused, Mr Juvian intervened.
‘STOP!’ he yelled. ‘Be glad that this wasn’t the real test, ladies and gentlemen – for you would have failed!’ Several of us looked downhearted at this point. ‘However, do not let the great emptiness of the chasm outside fill your hearts. – Nobody else has passed this test either! In fact, every year so far, students have all made the mistake of putting themselves first. Furthermore, perhaps some of you did wait, in which case I apologise to those students. Lesson one, ladies and gentlemen, is to put others first. It is outlined in Matthew, chapter twenty, verse sixteen: So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’
At this point I noticed a few students take out a notebook and pen to jot it down – Starla and Emily being two of them. ‘Ok, so this time I want you all to pick up your dice, if you have dropped it and return to the circle. Everyone else stand still until they return.’ Three quarters of the group stepped forward to retrieve their dice and I noticed at this point that both Seth and Josie took a dice from someone else, since theirs was too far away from them to bother with. ‘Now, I will call you out in alphabetical order – starting from first name, then last - to cast your dice into this bowl. Once you have your number, return your dice to the prefect on my right then go to your new house table.’
This happened in a much more orderly fashion, though it was not without incident. The list started with Abigail Allus, who looked like she was going to throw up.
‘Ox!’ yelled Juvian, as she strode over, shaking.
She was followed by Abraham Abercrombie who looked more confident, now that he realised he wasn’t first. He also joined the Ox table. Next was Adam Grove who strode over confidently, tripped up on his shoe laces and landed with his hand in the bowl as he steadied himself, dice dropped.
‘That’ll do.’ chuckled Mr Juvian. ‘Horse House.’
Then came Abigail Gweldon, who strode up, whispered: ‘It’s Abbi.’ and passed by with a smile, noticing that she had joined the House of Ibis before she ran off.
Soon followed Drew (who’s surname was ‘Cale’), confident also and forward rolling with a ‘BOO YAH!’ and a smile when he heard he was in Lizard House, to the giggling of many girls.
‘Show off.’ grunted Seth.
I was just blown away at his confidence.
‘Seriously?’ said Jack, annoyed that he didn’t feel so confident.
When Emily’s turn came, she trembled forward, dropping the dice without even shaking it, into the bowl.
‘That’ll do, you didn’t know which number it would be, did you?’ said Mr Juvian.
‘N-no.’ she said, but seeing it, looked confused and slightly upset.
‘Did you want another go?’ he asked. ‘I don’t know if that cou-‘
‘No.’ she said, seeming to accept her fate as she walked stiffly towards the teacher table and then around to the Ox table.
‘What?!’ whispered Jack, beside me.
I stood there, stunned.
‘Should I tell him he’s made a mistake?’ said Jack, bewildered.
‘No, don’t cause a scene,’ said Starla. ‘because she won’t appreciate it. Besides, it can be repealed later, if the decision is wrong.’
‘Of course it’s wrong!’ protested Jack. ‘If you knew her then you’d know!’
‘And how long did you know her?’ asked Starla, supposing that it was not much longer.
‘She’s right mate.’ I said, shrugging. ‘We hardly really knew her.’
‘Quiet!’ said Mr Juvian, as Faye Brown skipped off merrily to join the Horse table.
‘What’s wrong with the House of Ox, Glitch?’ said Felicity, confused.
‘Uh, nothing really, Felicity.’ she said, shrugging. ‘But some people think that it is of less worth to have much strength but little else.’
‘Too right!’ butted in Seth. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in that loser house, right sis?’
‘Right!’ said Josie. ‘That house is for those who are cowardly and dumb.’
‘Huh?!’ said Felicity, looking worried.
‘Don’t worry, Felicity.’ said Glitch, scowling at them. ‘They’re just being mean! No such thing as a bad house to be in, in here.’
‘Yeah, shut up!’ Jack said to Seth.
‘Trust you to say such a thing!’ I scowled at Josie.
‘What do you mean?’ said Seth, clenching a fist, but Josie put her hand on his arm.
‘There’ll be time later.’ she hissed.
‘But how does he know you, sis?’
‘I’ll tell you later.’ she hissed again.
‘Felicity Brogund!’ came Juvian.
‘Poor girl,’ said Jack. ‘after hearing that, she must be worried.’
But she wandered over in a daydream, almost; she seemed totally unfazed.
‘Lizard.’ said Juvian, before watching her wander in the wrong direction.
‘Oh.’ she said when she was redirected by a student at the Ibis table who looked like he thought that she belonged at any table but the Ibis table.
A lady who looked much like her mother, smiled at her as she passed the top table.
There were quite some characters amongs the students, including: Eddie Groove, who street-danced over to Lizard before Felicity had stepped up; Fergus Cross who scurried forward, unfortunately looking like a rat in features as well as action, before joining the Horse table; then Fred Toll, a black boy, took five, long shakes of the dice to be sure, to a disgruntled Mr Juvian.
‘Gareth Kirt.’ came Mr Juvian.
I stepped over awkwardly, wondering which house I would like to be in; it suddenly occurred to me that I only knew which characteristics were associated with the Houses of Ibis and Ox and had no idea of the gifts expected. I panicked and said a small prayer, feeling that the time had come too quickly – shouldn’t we take longer over such an important decision? I tried to remind myself that it could be repealed; this did not have to be final. I was in front of Mr Juvian. I hoped that there really was no bad house to be in. I tried to throw the dice in a curve, so as to give it a spin when it landed and draw out the decision a little longer. It spun for what felt like several minutes before landing with a face up:
‘Two.’ said Mr Juvian. ‘That means Lizard and Mr Ruffel as your Head of House.’
I gave a sigh of relief, now that the ordeal was over. Although I still did not know what this really meant – or whether it should mean anything. I found a place at the Lizard table after passing the top table and receiving a wink from a man with a white moustache and bowler hat. I smiled but was slightly unnerved as I sat down opposite Felicity Brogund and next to Drew, who shook my hand and indicated the seat next to him, coolly.
‘Well done, mate.’
‘Uh, thanks.’ I said, feeling uncomfortable. ‘Looks like half of us are in the same house!’
‘Glitch Fountain.’
Glitch strode over, looking determined now that it was her turn. She stared at Mr Juvian expectantly as her dice bounced around the bowl.
‘Lizard!’ he beamed.
‘Yay!’ said Felicity, smiling as Glitch ran over to join us.
Grant Solar, a butch boy grunted at his result as he strode coolly over to Horse House; Hank Taylor pushed up his glasses before joining Ibis and Horace Glow, portly in appearance, seemed out of breath solely from the journey to Ox table.
It was soon Jack’s turn. He was pale and shaking now. I prayed he joined the right table, but hoped it was mine.
‘Lizard!’ beamed Juvian again.
‘Phew!’ said Jack, with a smile and a high-five as he reached me. ‘Glad that’s over – now our fates our intertwined.’
‘Ha!’ I laughed. ‘Hope you’re good at homework, cos I’m not.’
‘That’s where our fates are intertwined – maybe we can ask Emily for help!’
‘Good idea!’ I said.
I was glad to have Jack in the same house as me; it was good to have someone I knew for the times ahead.
At this point, I heard Josie’s name being called, followed by ‘Tolar’. I looked over and saw her, the most arrogant looking girl there – not at all affected by nerves. She dropped the dice and ended up at the Horse table. It was now that I wished there was a bad house for her to go into. Our eyes connected and she smirked as I sneered.
‘What’s she doing in Horse House?!’ I said, annoyed.
‘Who? Oh her.’ said Jack, noticing who I was looking at. ‘I dunno, what do yer have against her anyway?’
I told him all about the meeting at Resource Rock.
‘Wow, how did she get in?’ he said, when I had finished.
‘Her mum probably let her in.’ grunted Drew, without looking at us. ‘You did the right thing.’
‘Uh thanks.’ I said, not sure what to say.
‘Oh, that’s who it is!’ I said, suddenly realising who the strange man in white was. ‘It’s Dwindle Berry!’
‘Dwindle Berry?! Where?’ asked Jack, looking up at the top table.
‘Up there, in white.’ I said, pointing.
At the moment he looked very serious and watched the sorting with interest, bristling his moustache.
We were now on Mark Porfuss, who seemed the most nervous of the lot, just standing stock still and shaking his head. I recognised him as the boy who rocked back and forth on the whale, and clung on tight to the banister. He came over to join us, whilst I wondered what exactly qualified for joining the Lizard House.
After him came Minnie Zolar, who sucked her thumb; Natalie Yula, who bit her nails; Peter Porfuss, the more confident twin brother of Mark, joined the Horse table; Rocinda Darfy, who joined Emily.
‘Oh good, at least Emily has somebody she knows now.’ I said.
‘Oh yeah,’ said Jack. ‘that’ll be good for her.’
Emily indeed brightened at this news, standing up to hug her before she sat down, next to her.
Seth reacted with the same smug attitude as his sister; swaggering over to drop the dice then join her in the Horse House.
‘Hmm, he reminds me of his sister.’ said Drew, unsurprised.
‘Hey guys,’ said Starla, as she approached, trembling slightly. ‘mind if I sit here?’
‘Hey, not at all.’ I said, trying to be friendly, though receiving an unwelcome look from Jack. ‘How are you?’
‘Well thanks.’ she said, sitting next to him, who screwed up his face in irritation.
Soon the list reached Vale Tor, a tall, thin boy who strode confidently up to the Horse table, followed by Vixen Farm, a red haired girl with pig tails. The crowd only contained about a handful of people now.
‘Thanks!’ grunted Jack, but laughing all the same.
Finally, we were onto the last student: Zack Ugua.
‘What a name!’ laughed Jack. ‘I’d love to be called that.’
‘It is not wise to be last!’ I said, observing Zack tremble over to Ibis table.
As applause rent the air from all tables, the man in white who winked at me earlier, stood up.
‘Oh, by the way,’ said Mr Juvian, realising that he had forgotten something: ‘all houses have their aspirations: Horse House have bravery as their main aim with speaking in tongues and miraculous powers as their main gifts; Ibis House have wisdom – also as their main gift, along with the message of knowledge and the gift of prophecy; Ox House have strength, along with the gifts of healing and faith; as for Lizard House, they have resourcefulness, the gift of discerning spirits and the gift of interpreting tongues. Of course, these are generalisations – if you wish to find the Bible references then read the Book of Job.
‘Thank you, Mr Juvian.’ said the man in white, courteously, as Mr Juvian returned to his place at the top table.
