Daisy skipped a stone across the water. She was the best stone skipper in the house. Technically she was an orphan, but her older sister Calla looked after her. Daisy couldn’t really remember her mother. She held the image of a big gruff man in her head as her father. A kind man who would reach out with his big hands and pick her up off the floor. She missed him.

  Not that she needed picking up from the floor anymore. She was nearly an adult at eleven. As soon as she reached puberty she’d be paired off with one of the trapper's sons and start a family of her own. Sometimes she couldn’t wait for that future where she would have her own place and not just a corner in a house filled with her sister's children. Sometimes when she thought about that future something in her shrank. She asked her sister if she couldn't do something different, like the woman blacksmith in town.

  “We’re Wildkin, honey,” Calla told her. “No one in the village is gonna teach you blacksmithing. Not even that woman smith.”

  “Daisy!” Calla called in the here and now. “Come on back here, I got a surprise for ya.”

  “Coming, Sis,” Daisy called. She ran back to the house over floating logs and dry hummocks, so she was mostly dry when she got there. The house was actually a hut, built partially on stick pilings and partially in the trees of a bigger hummock.

  “How long you going to be?” Calla's spouse Buck was asking, when Daisy came to a stop on the house’s front porch.

  “I’ll be back just after midday. You can mind the little ones til then,” Calla said with some force. “Git in the boat Daisy, we're going to town.”

  “The money would be better spent on our children,” Buck argued as Daisy scrambled down the side of the piling to the little skiff they use to take the crawdad traps out.

  “Daddy told me to use the money for Daisy and I’m doin it. He was awful worried, her being so young. You know she don't like that trapper's son. If he won’t take her without a dowry, then he don’t deserve her.”

  “That’s a dangerous attitude Calla,” Buck argued.

  “It’s a dangerous world,” Calla countered. She picked a bag up off the decking and slipped off the side of the porch. She descended the pilings as nimble as you please and stepped into the skiff. She freed the skiff with a quick pull of the rope and sat down to pull the oars.

  “You be home by midday, woman,” Buck was calling from the porch. “I got fishing to do.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Calla called back. “More like drinking with your buddies,” she mumbled beneath her breath. The light skiff was skimming across the water now making good time. Daisy was hunkered down in the bow a little worried about the friction between her sister and Buck. Normally they got along well enough, like most Wildkin families.

  “What are we doing Calla?” Daisy asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” Calla said. “Something our Daddy would have wanted for you.” The cold season was just starting. The sky overhead was a slate gray and was threatening rain. Daisy huddled for warmth as her sister pulled hard on the oars, causing a cold breeze to sweep over them. They pulled out of the marsh into the open water that fronted the village of Bayou.

  Calla maneuvered the skiff to the fishing dock and secured it next to a much larger boat. Calla retrieved her bag from the skiff bottom and they both stepped out onto the dock.

  “Let me look at you,” Calla said. She brushed some dried mud from the rough woven fabric of Daisy’s clothes and made a vain effort to smooth down some of Daisy’s hair. “Kick the mud off those sandals,” Calla instructed. Daisy scraped her woven reed sandals against the rough wood of the dock until they were free of the largest globes of mud. “You’ll do,” Calla said.

  She took Daisy’s hand and led her up off the dock into the upper village that was built on dry land. She was heading in the direction of the main road. The only time they went this way was when they wanted to deal with the warehouse. Daisy had the surprising thought that maybe Calla was going to buy her something from the mechanized shop. It sold the most wonderful things that couldn’t be bought in town or gathered from the marsh.

  There was a strange hut standing on the side of the road. It wasn’t there the last time they passed this way. Its walls were a white fabric. As they got closer, Daisy could see that the wall facing the road was rolled up out of the way. Two tables were set up under the cloth ceiling with chairs behind them. Three carts were parked beyond the fabric hut. They were larger than any Daisy saw before. She only saw the warehouse workers once or twice from a distance, but they came in a smaller cart.

  There were people in the hut and in the carts and milling around on the road. A line was formed in front of each table. An older man in warehouse clothes was standing in the middle of the road.

  “The drawing for last minute registration is an hour before midday,” the man said loudly. “Sign up your girls at the table to my left,” he said with a wave, “and your boys at the table to my right. We are balancing the numbers of girls and boys. There are only four openings left for boys, but there are seven for girls.” Calla approached the man boldly, dragging her sister behind her when Daisy would have hung back.

  “I pre-registered my sister at the warehouse. Where does she need to be?” Calla demanded. The man smiled at Calla in a friendly way.

  “Do you see that woman standing over there by the third cart?” the man asked. Daisy looked over and saw an old woman leaning against the vehicle holding a tall gray walking staff. She was pointing to something in the distance and talking to a big younger man standing next to her. The man had an easy air to him that was at odds with the large knife at his belt and the muscles on his arms. “Go report to her. She has all the pre-registration information.” Calla led Daisy down the road.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “What’s going on Calla?” Daisy asked.

  “I’ve signed you up for the school,” Calla told her sister. “I read the paper posting and the warehouse screens. They said they’ll teach you to read and start you in a craft. I don’t think you can learn to be a blacksmith in a single winter, but it will be more than you’d learn if you stay in the swamp.”

  “Doesn’t it cost coins?” Daisy asked.

  “Daddy left you the money,” Calla told her sister. “He knew he was dying and he didn’t like that he was leaving you unsettled.” They arrived at the old woman in front of the cart, so that was all Calla told her.

  “My sister is pre-registered,” Calla said.

  “Excellent,” the old woman said. She leaned her staff against the cart and pulled a large glass square from a pocket built into the thigh of her clothing. Her fingers flicked across the surface of the glass.

  “What is the name of the student?” the woman asked.

  “Daisy Wildkin,” Calla said.

  “Here she is right here,” the woman responded, tapping something Daisy couldn’t see on the pad. “I see her tuition is already paid. Are you her sponsor, Calla Wildkin?”

  “I am,” Calla responded.

  “Then you must be young Daisy,” the old woman said to Daisy directly with a smile. “Welcome to Speedwell Academy, Daisy. We are the Wizard's Tower.” She turned to Calla. “Do you give us permission to take Daisy into the structure? You didn’t answer that question on the registration form.”

  “I don’t know what it means,” Calla countered.

  “Have you not heard of the structure?” The old woman asked. “Some people call it the ruins. There is an entrance to the west. There are methods for crafting and hunting that only work there. The school tries to present the widest set of options for our students' future, so we want to show our students the structure ways alongside the village methods. If you want to keep your sister outside of it we will honor your wishes.”

  “You won’t just take her there and leave her?” Calla asked.

  “No. The structure has its own dangers, different from the swamp, but just as serious. All visits to the structure are strictly supervised. We will return your sister here when the session is over. You have my word on that.”

  “In three months?” Calla asked.

  “In three thirty six days,” the woman clarified. “It is a little longer than three and a half months. There might be a day or two more or less depending on how long it takes for us to bring all the students back out to the villages. There will be a notice on the warehouse screen showing how many days are left until they will return.”

  “She can go in the structure,” Calla said. “I want her to know her options, that’s why I brought her.”

  “Excellent,” the old woman said again. Calla moved uneasily on her feet and shifted the bag in her hand.

  “I recognize you,” Calla said. “Daddy pointed you out to me when I was young. He said you were the Engineer. I weren’t able to get all the things on the list for Daisy, but I still have some coins from Daddy. If’n I give them to you, will you buy the things Daisy needs for her? She’s too small to be carrying value around herself.” The old woman smiled. She looked pleased.

  “You have my word I’ll help her get what she needs,” the old woman said. “Let me set up an account for her and we can store her money in the warehouse system.” The woman’s fingers flew across the glass panel. “Just touch the tablet right there for me, Daisy.” Daisy extended a slightly dirty finger out to touch the glass where the Engineer pointed.

  “Perfect,” she responded. Her fingers flew again and she asked Calla to touch the square of glass. “Ok,” she said. “I’ve got it set up so when you go to the warehouse station, Calla, you will be able to see your account and Daisy’s. There’s an icon on the front that says account. Just touch that.”

  “I know how to use the warehouse,” Calla stated, proud of her skill.

  “When you touch the account icon now, there will be a choice underneath for your own account or Daisy’s. You can add money to Daisy’s account. No one but Daisy can take it back out. I can put any coins you have into Daisy’s account for you, or you can add it in at the warehouse yourself,” the Engineer explained. Calla pulled a worn leather purse out of her pocket and passed it to the woman.

  “Here,” she said. “Now that Buck knows about it he’d get his hands on it sooner or later anyway.” The Engineer spilled the coins out of the pouch and counted them. She flicked her fingers across the glass. She handed the purse back and showed what was displayed on the glass, with the coins still spread across its surface to Calla. Daisy was surprised to see that many of the coins were the higher denominations, not just the tens but even a hundred or two.

  “If you check the totals,” she said to Calla, “You can see the same total in Daisy’s account.”

  “It looks right,” Calla confirmed. The Engineer swept the coins up and they disappeared into a pocket.

  “You can continue to add coins to Daisy’s account while she’s at school. You should check the warehouse buy screen. A lot of new items have been added for use in the school. I thought I’d mention it because I noticed that you're both wearing reed sandals and reeds are one of the items that was added,” the engineer said. “If Daisy doesn't use all her coins during the session she can withdraw them, use them to buy items in the warehouse like normal or even pay her tuition next year if she wants to attend again.”

  “Why would she want to go again?” Calla asked. “Won’t it just be the same?”

  “Oh no,” the Engineer said. “There is always more to learn. There will be more advanced classes available next year. If she studies hard and attends four or five years, she will be a journeyman in the craft she chooses. It is my hope for all our students that even a single session will give them the skills to earn enough coins to replace the tuition money.”

  “Good,” Calla said. “That is what I want for her, to be independent. I think Daddy would have wanted that too.”

  “We won’t be leaving until after the lottery for the remaining open spaces,” the Engineer said. “You are welcome to stay and wait with Daisy, or you can trust us with her if you're needed elsewhere.”

  “I’ll wait with her,” Calla said. “Buck can watch his own kids for a day. Here, Daisy,” Calla said, handing the bag over to her young sister. “This is for you. It is all your stuff now.”

  “We’ve left the back of this cart open so you can sit inside if it starts to rain,” the engineer explained. “As more of the students show up, Companion will organize a game for the younger students on this lawn here,” She said, indicating the area behind the village, next to the road. Daisy remembered it as a tangle of brush, grass and abandoned field crops. It was all cropped short now, with two or three village children running around it.

  “Come on,” Calla said. “I always wanted to see the inside of a cart.”

  Calla sat in the cushioned seat and ran her fingers over the spotless surfaces. Daisy opened up the bag and looked over all the stuff her sister gathered for her. Some of it was her own things that Calla must have packed that morning while Daisy played in the swamp. Most of it was all brand new. Daisy was amazed Calla had gotten it all for her. Daisy carefully put it all back into the bag before giving her sister a big hug.

  “Thank you, Calla. You're the best sister ever,” Daisy said. Calla hugged the young girl back.

  “I haven’t always done the best for you,” Calla said. “I try, Daisy. I love you more than a sister. You're like a daughter to me. But life can be mighty hard. I hope this school prepares you for it.”