The Water Mirror Read Free Page A

walls plastered and
     without hangings—precautions against the high waters that struck Venice some
     winters. The domestic life of the Venetians took place on the second and third floors,
     the ground floors being left bare and uncomfortable.
    â€œIt’s late,” said Eft, as if her eye had happened to
     fall on a clock. But Merle couldn’t discover one anywhere. “Arcimboldo and
     the older students are in the workshop at this hour and may not be disturbed.
     You’ll get to meet them in the morning. I’ll show you to your
     room.”
    Merle couldn’t repress a smile. She had hoped that she and Junipa
     would share a room. She saw that the blind girl was also happy to hear Eft’s
     words.
    The masked woman led them up the steps of a curving flight of stairs.
     “I’m the housekeeper for the workshop.I’ll be
     cooking for you and washing your things. Perhaps in the first few months you’ll be
     giving me a hand with it; the master often requests that of newcomers—especially
     as you are the only girls in the house.”
    The only girls? That all the other apprentices could be boys hadn’t
     occurred to Merle at all until now. She was all the more relieved that she was beginning
     her apprenticeship with Junipa.
    The blind girl wasn’t very talkative, and Merle guessed that she
     hadn’t had a very easy time of it in the orphanage. Merle had only too often
     experienced how awful children can be, especially to those they consider weaker.
     Certainly Junipa’s blindness would frequently have been a reason for mean
     tricks.
    The girls followed Eft down a long hallway. The walls were hung with
     countless mirrors. Most were aimed toward each other: mirrors in mirrors in mirrors.
     Merle doubted that any of these were Arcimboldo’s famous magic mirrors, for she
     could discover nothing unusual about them.
    After Eft had explained all the rules about eating times, going out, and
     behavior in the house, Merle asked, “Who buys Arcimboldo’s magic mirrors,
     anyhow?”
    â€œYou’re curious,” stated Eft, leaving it open as to
     whether this displeased her.
    â€œRich people?” Junipa queried, absently running her hand over
     her smooth hair.
    â€œPerhaps,” Eft replied. “Who
     knows?” With that she let the subject drop, and the girls probed no further. They
     would have time enough to find out everything important about the workshop and its
     customers. Good and wicked stepmothers, Merle repeated to
     herself. Beautiful and ugly witches. That sounded exciting.
    The room that Eft showed them to was not large. It smelled musty, but
     since it was on the fourth floor of the building, it was pleasingly bright. In Venice
     you saw daylight only above the third floor, to say nothing of the sunshine, if you were
     lucky. However, the window of this room looked out over a sea of orange tiles. At night
     they would be able to see the starry heavens, and all day they would be able to see the
     sun—provided their work left them time for it.
    The room was at the back of the house. Far below the window, Merle could
     make out a small courtyard with a round well in the center. All the houses opposite
     appeared to be empty. At the beginning of the war with the Pharaoh’s kingdom, many
     Venetians had left the city and fled to the mainland—a disastrous mistake, as it
     later turned out.
    Eft left the girls, telling them she would bring them something to eat in
     an hour. And then after that they should go to bed, so that they would be rested for
     their first workday.
    Junipa felt along the bedposts and gently let herselfdown on the mattress. Carefully she stroked the bedcover with both hands.
    â€œLook at the blankets! So fluffy!”
    Merle sat down beside her. “They must have been expensive,”
     she said dreamily. In the orphanage the blankets had been thin and scratchy, and there
     were all kinds