There was
the office of the timekeeper, who was in charge of the
town clockAnd there were offices for the guards who
enforced the laws of Ember, now and then putting
pickpockets or people who got in fights into the Prison
Room, a small one-story structure with a sloping roof
that jutted out from one side of the buildingLina ran up the steps and through the door into a
broad hallwayOn the left was a desk, and at the desk
sat a guard: "Barton Snode, Assistant Guard," said a
badge on his chestHe was a big man, with wide shoulders,
brawny arms, and a thick neckBut his head
looked as if it didn't belong to his body--it was small
and round and topped with a fuzz of extremely short
hairHis lower jaw jutted out and moved a little from
side to side, as if he were chewing on somethingWhen he saw Lina, his jaw stopped moving for a
moment and his lips curled upward in a very
cheap chanel purses small
smile"What business brings you
here today?"
"I have a message for the mayor
32
"Very good, very good Barton Snode heaved
himself to his feet
He led Lina down the corridor and opened a door
marked "Reception Room
"Wait here, please," he said"The mayor is in his
basement office on private business, but he will be up
shortly
"I'll notify the mayor," said Barton SnodeThe mayor will be right with you He left, closing the door behind himA second
later, the door opened again, and the guard's small
fuzzy head re-appeared"What is the message?" he
asked
"I have to give it to the mayor in person," said
Lina
"Of course, of course," said the guardThe door
closed againHe doesn't seem very sure about things,
Lina thoughtMaybe he's new at his job
The Reception Room was shabby, but Lina could
tell that it had once been impressiveThe walls were
dark red, with
omega aqua terra watch brownish patches where the paint was
peeling awayIn the right-hand wall was a closed doorAn ugly brown carpet lay on the floor, and on it stood
a large armchair covered in itchy-looking red material,
and several smaller chairsA small table held a teapot
and some cups, and a larger table in the middle of the
room displayed a copy of The Book of the City of
33
Ember, lying open as if someone were going to read
from itPortraits of all the mayors of the city since the
beginning of time hung on the walls, staring solemnly
from behind pieces of old window glassLina sat in the big armchair and waitedShe got up and wandered around the roomShe bent over The Book of the City of Ember and read a
few sentences: "The citizens of Ember may not have
luxuries, but the foresight of the Builders, who filled
the storerooms at the beginning of time, has ensured
that they will always
new omega watches have enough, and enough is all
that a person of wisdom needs
She flipped a few pages"The Gathering Hall
clock," she read, "measures the hours of night and dayIt must never be allowed to run downWithout it, how
would we know when to go to work and when to go
to school? How would the light director know when to
turn the lights on and when to turn them off again? It
is the job of the timekeeper to wind the clock
every week and to place the date sign in Harken Square
every dayThe timekeeper must perform these duties
faithfully
Lina knew that not all timekeepers were as faithful
as they should beShe'd heard of one, some years ago,
who often forgot to change the date sign, so that it
might say, "Wednesday, Week 38, Year 227" for several
days in a rowThere had even been timekeepers who
forgot to wind the clock, so that it might stand at noon
34
or at midnight for hours
ladies omega watches at a time, causing a very long day or a very long nightThe result was that no one
really knew anymore exactly what day of the week it
was, or exactly how many years it had been since the
building of the city--they called this the year 241, but
it might have been 245 or 239 or 250As long as the
clock's deep boom rang out every hour, and the lights
went on and off more or less regularly, it didn't seem
to matterLina left the book and examined the pictures of
the mayorsThe seventh mayor, Podd Morethwart, was
her great-great--she didn't know how many greats--grandfatherHe looked quite dreary, Lina thoughtHis
cheeks were long and hollow, his mouth turned down
at the corners, and there was a lost look in his eyesThe
picture she liked best was of the fourth mayor, Jane
Larket, who had a serene smile and fuzzy black hairShe heard no sounds from the
hallwayMaybe they'd forgotten
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