a kind of mark,
but . . .”
Alex pulled up an edge of
the map.
“ There are three maps
here,” Alex said. “No, four — not counting the one facing out. The
paper they are on is very thin and looks old.”
Alex carefully pulled a
map from the stack of maps inside the frame. She lay it face up on
the floor and removed the next. She did the same until all five
maps were face up on her floor. The map that had been facing out
was not the same quality or age as the other four.
She got up and put the IV
bag back on the stand. She picked up one of the four maps and
brought it to her map table. She pulled her adjustable round
magnifier over the map and turned on the light.
“ Be right back,” Alex
said.
She jogged into the
bathroom to wash her hands. When she was walking back, she heard
Rebecca ask Raz about Alex’s weight. Raz told her mother that
everyone was concerned but that John was monitoring it. She cleared
her throat so they knew she was coming.
She went directly to her
map table. Looking through the magnifier, Alex ran her fingers over
the map’s lines. Alex scowled and picked up the next map. She went
over the surface of each of the four maps with slow, deliberate
purpose.
“ Ok, I’m dying from the
suspense,” Raz said. “What’s going on?”
“ They’re definitely
copies,” Alex said. “Not cheaply made. The paper is old, possibly
from the time of the original maps. The copies are hand drawn,
which could imply that whoever made these copies had access to the
originals, which would be . . .”
Alex shook her head and
looked at the ground.
“ Which would be?” Raz
asked.
“ Oh, sorry,” Alex said.
“This kind of copy is something you do when you own something
that’s truly too valuable to display. They’re sometimes called
insurance copies. I mean, you don’t want to risk something so
precious to a fire or earthquake or whatever. I don’t think they’re
made as often now, but in the early nineteenth century, every
painting, map, even books, anything of great value had this kind of
copy made — one to display and one to pass to your children. Do you
recognize these, Mom?”
Rebecca came to the table
to take a look. She shrugged.
“ I know that I’m a huge
disappointment, but maps look like maps to me,” Rebecca said.
“Especially the old ones. I don’t have your eye for
them.”
Alex scowled.
“ Don’t worry,” Raz smiled.
“She gives me the same look when I can’t tell one map from the
other.”
Rebecca and Raz laughed.
Alex gave them a disgusted look, which made them laugh
harder.
“ Yes, yes, very funny,”
Alex grinned.
She turned the map over
and leaned in closer.
“ This mark is familiar,”
she said.
She pointed to a
sixteen-point compass rose on the back of the map. The longest
spines of the star were black and designated the cardinal
directions — north, south, east, and west — and the four ordinal
directions — north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west.
Spines that were shaded on one side and blank on the other marked
the secondary-intercardinal directions. There was a circle in the
center of the compass rose. The very center of the star was an oval
shape that looked like a human eye with a swoop of an eyebrow. The
entire compass star was about the size of a US quarter. Rebecca
turned over a corner of another map to look at the mark.
“ It looks like a compass
rose,” Raz said.
“ This is an old one,” Alex
said. “They would have called it a wind rose or a compass star. See
how it’s formed in the shape of a star?”
She held up the symbol for
them to see.
“ It’s probably the mark of
whoever copied the maps, like my fairy,” Alex said. “They indicate
that these duplicates were created at the behest of the owner of
the original maps.”
Alex lowered the
magnifying circle over the mark.
“ Compass Rose,” Rebecca
said. “Isn’t that the name of your health insurance
company?”
“ It is,” Raz said. “All
the
but . . .”
Alex pulled up an edge of
the map.
“ There are three maps
here,” Alex said. “No, four — not counting the one facing out. The
paper they are on is very thin and looks old.”
Alex carefully pulled a
map from the stack of maps inside the frame. She lay it face up on
the floor and removed the next. She did the same until all five
maps were face up on her floor. The map that had been facing out
was not the same quality or age as the other four.
She got up and put the IV
bag back on the stand. She picked up one of the four maps and
brought it to her map table. She pulled her adjustable round
magnifier over the map and turned on the light.
“ Be right back,” Alex
said.
She jogged into the
bathroom to wash her hands. When she was walking back, she heard
Rebecca ask Raz about Alex’s weight. Raz told her mother that
everyone was concerned but that John was monitoring it. She cleared
her throat so they knew she was coming.
She went directly to her
map table. Looking through the magnifier, Alex ran her fingers over
the map’s lines. Alex scowled and picked up the next map. She went
over the surface of each of the four maps with slow, deliberate
purpose.
“ Ok, I’m dying from the
suspense,” Raz said. “What’s going on?”
“ They’re definitely
copies,” Alex said. “Not cheaply made. The paper is old, possibly
from the time of the original maps. The copies are hand drawn,
which could imply that whoever made these copies had access to the
originals, which would be . . .”
Alex shook her head and
looked at the ground.
“ Which would be?” Raz
asked.
“ Oh, sorry,” Alex said.
“This kind of copy is something you do when you own something
that’s truly too valuable to display. They’re sometimes called
insurance copies. I mean, you don’t want to risk something so
precious to a fire or earthquake or whatever. I don’t think they’re
made as often now, but in the early nineteenth century, every
painting, map, even books, anything of great value had this kind of
copy made — one to display and one to pass to your children. Do you
recognize these, Mom?”
Rebecca came to the table
to take a look. She shrugged.
“ I know that I’m a huge
disappointment, but maps look like maps to me,” Rebecca said.
“Especially the old ones. I don’t have your eye for
them.”
Alex scowled.
“ Don’t worry,” Raz smiled.
“She gives me the same look when I can’t tell one map from the
other.”
Rebecca and Raz laughed.
Alex gave them a disgusted look, which made them laugh
harder.
“ Yes, yes, very funny,”
Alex grinned.
She turned the map over
and leaned in closer.
“ This mark is familiar,”
she said.
She pointed to a
sixteen-point compass rose on the back of the map. The longest
spines of the star were black and designated the cardinal
directions — north, south, east, and west — and the four ordinal
directions — north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west.
Spines that were shaded on one side and blank on the other marked
the secondary-intercardinal directions. There was a circle in the
center of the compass rose. The very center of the star was an oval
shape that looked like a human eye with a swoop of an eyebrow. The
entire compass star was about the size of a US quarter. Rebecca
turned over a corner of another map to look at the mark.
“ It looks like a compass
rose,” Raz said.
“ This is an old one,” Alex
said. “They would have called it a wind rose or a compass star. See
how it’s formed in the shape of a star?”
She held up the symbol for
them to see.
“ It’s probably the mark of
whoever copied the maps, like my fairy,” Alex said. “They indicate
that these duplicates were created at the behest of the owner of
the original maps.”
Alex lowered the
magnifying circle over the mark.
“ Compass Rose,” Rebecca
said. “Isn’t that the name of your health insurance
company?”
“ It is,” Raz said. “All
the
Similar Books
