Gareth and th Lost Island by Patrick Mallard Read Free Book Online Page B

family’s eyes. Except for the space left out for the
door, the walls were completely obscured by floor to ceiling
bookcases. The bookcases were jammed so full, that some of the
books had to be stacked on top of others to get them to fit. Stacks
of boxes littered the room with contents ranging from ancient books
and scrolls to small statues covered in runes. A plain wooden desk
sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded by stacks of books that
reached four feet high in some places. On the desk itself were
several journals open to the last page Gareth had written in them.
Pencils and fountain pens lay strewn among the journals. A set of
goggles with interchangeable magnify lens hung on a hook set in the
side of the desk.
    “My filing system may not look like much to you, but
I know where everything is,” Gareth replied.
    Tralnis rolled his eyes skeptically. “All right,
prove it. What’s in the second box from the top in the stack over
there?” he challenged as he pointed to a stack to the right of the
desk.
    Gareth looked at where Tralnis was pointing. “That
box contains a collection of Issian works that were halfway between
a book and newspaper. Unlike the newspapers we have today, those
were only published once a month instead of daily,” he stated.
    Tralnis walked over to the stack, and took down the
first two boxes. He opened up the box in question, and pulled out a
stack of papers that were twice as wide as a normal book and joined
in the middle by copper staples. Tralnis didn’t need to read Issian
to get the general gist of what the pamphlet was about. Most of it
was devoted to very realistic illustrations of various specious in
the nude. He was extra impressed by the fold out section in the
middle. After staring at the fold out with a grin on his face for a
few moments, Tralnis folded the extra-long page back into the
pamphlet, and then tucked the whole thing into his jacket. “I’m
just going to borrow this to… uh… study later,” he muttered.
    Gareth chuckled to himself as he made his way to his
desk. He placed the clay tablet the Dean had given him on one of
the taller stack of books near the desk. After sitting in his
chair, Gareth opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out a leather
satchel that was only large enough to take a few essentials from
the desk. With a sigh, he put the magnifying goggles, three blank
journals, and a handful of pens and pencils into the satchel.
    Henry walked behind Gareth to get to the box Tralnis
was still digging through. On his way past, Henry glanced at the
tablet which was eye level to him, and froze in place. He put his
hand on Gareth’s shoulder, shaking it slightly while hooting
excitedly.
    Gareth frowned, and spun in his chair to face Henry.
He held up two fingers on his right hand. “Two questions for you
Henry. The first is what are you talking about saying the tablet
has a rune that looks just like the one I have tattooed on my butt?
The tablet is just covered in nonsense scribbles. The second
question is how did you know I have tattoo on my butt in the first
place? I’ve never shown it to you,” he asked sharply.
    Tralnis stepped next to Gareth and leaned his elbow
on the desktop. “Lad, pretty much the whole campus knows you have a
tattoo on your butt,” he told him.
    “What?! How… why?!” Gareth sputtered.
    Tralnis gave him another lopsided grin. “What do you
remember from the party we threw when you got your Language
Mastership?” he asked.
    Gareth frowned as he tried to recall that night. “I
remember there were quite a few of my students, lots of drinking,
and… that’s about it actually,” he admitted.
    Tralnis nodded, since that was the answer he
expected. “Once you were well into your cups, you somehow got it
into your head that it would be great idea to streak nude across
the campus. Henry and I chased you from building to building, while
you quoted obscure poetry in several different languages,” he
explained.
    Henry’s nod