"So who can tell me why this man was so important?" I ask, gesturing up to the twelve foot high stone statue beside me.
Thirty-two nine- and ten-year-old hands shoot up into the air.
"Jesse."
"He stopped Cochin Breaker," the young boy says, quite correctly.
"Yes, that's right. Can anybody tell me his name?"
Thirty-two hands again.
"Emily."
"Archer!" the girl squeals excitedly.
"Yes, Archer Hemmingsworth. That's why his statue is here at the Breaker Estate. Can anybody tell me the name of Archer's assistant?" I ignore the irritation that I have to downplay the significance of their actions by order of the Witches Council.
"Thomas Baxter!" Colin Hargardy shouts out excitedly as he raises his hand.
"Not Thomas Baxter, he was Cochin Breaker's accomplice. It was Greyson Westbridge that worked with Archer. In fact, these words here, inscribed beneath Archer's monument, are the words of Greyson. It reads 'We couldn't let another man try to rule the world with magic.'"
"And aren't we all grateful they couldn't?" a man's voice says from behind me.
I turn to see a sharply suited man, attache case gripped in hand, striding down the drive toward me and my class. Following a few steps behind is his protector, a mountain of a man, heavily bearded and dressed just as neatly.
"I'm sorry-" I begin, but he cuts me off.
"No, I'm sorry. Sorry for interrupting your class. I'm liaison Scott from Westminster." My heart skips a beat. Westminster. Is this about my grandfather? "You are Alice Breaker, yes?"
I nod mutely.
"Then I have some good news for you," he says with a smile, "Cochin Breaker is dead."
