Psychology Essay Example for Free

Psychology Essay Operant conditioning is a form of learning that is environmentally gathered. Learn the skill, practice the skill, then step back and examine the results. Observational learning also called social learning. A person behavior is influenced by what happens to other people when ten bases they behave certain ways. The person who is learning does so by seeing responses are elicited by other behaviors. The person then bases their behavior on the lessons learned by watching what happens to the other people. Social learning is in social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction. The different kinds of learning can be utilized in the workplace: Operant conditioning: One of my coworkers is having trouble with understanding the job. So I voluntarily helped them out. That increases my reputation at work. After that I will get positive feedback from coworkers. Observational learning: At the workplace, it is forbidden to do something which you’ve never done before. That’s why, before you start working on something new; ask someone about that job to show you how to do it. So you can learn and be able to do it. Social learning: Advertisements, TV, internet shows because we observe them, then copy them. How is prejudice developed and nurtured through classical and operant conditioning? Give specific examples that demonstrate each kind of learning. Prejudice is a learned, generally negative attitude directed toward specific people solely because of their membership in an identified group. Prejudice is developed and nurtured through classical and operant conditioning from three elements. Affective (emotions about the group), behavioral (negative action toward members of the group) and cognitive (stereotypical beliefs about team members). People learn prejudice the same way they learn all attitudes through classical and operant conditioning. For example, repeated exposure to stereotypical portrayals of minorities and women on TV, in movies and in magazines teach children that such images are correct. Similarly hearing parents, friends and teachers express their prejudices also reinforce prejudice. 3. ) You are scheduled to present the result of your work on creating a new software program for your company. What memory techniques will you use in order to be free of too much dependence on notes and power point slides? Be specific as to how you will relate the technique to the content of the presentation Long –term memory: Encoding because it is elaborative rehearsal, the processing is more than visual. The three R’s registration, retention and retrieval. 4. ) Name and describe the three qualities of emotional intelligence according to Goleman. If you were interviewing applicants for a position in your company and wanted to know whether they had emotional intelligence, how would you go about discovering that? Would you do that in an interview or some other means? Posses self control of emotions such as anger, impulsiveness and anxiety. The ability to understand what others feel such as empathy. The ability to motivate oneself. I feel you can find a person emotional intelligence in an interview because a person can manage their emotions. They don’t get angry in stressful situations. They have the ability to look at a problem calmly and find a solution. I would go about discovering by asking questions or just observing how the questions are answered and giving different scenarios of a situations and pay attention to responses.

Prevention Strategies for Escherichia Coli

Prevention Strategies for Escherichia Coli a) As the snack food is made from meat, there are four types of bacteria that will possibly contaminate it which are Escherichia.coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus,and Listeria monocytogenes (FSIS, 2015). Escherichia.coli is a bacterial that is usually present in the intestines of humans and animals. Although, most of them are harmless as they play an important role in the intestinal tract of a healthy individual. However, there are a few of them that are pathogenic as they can result in diarrhea and can be transmitted through the contact of human or animalfaeces. Altogether, there are sixpathotypes that are linked with diarrhea which are as follows Shiga toxin-producing   Escherichia.coli (STEC), Enterotoxigenic Escherichia.coli (ETEC), Enteropathogenic Escherichia.coli (EPEC), Enteroaggregative Escherichia.coli (EAEC), Enteroinvasive Escherichia.coli (EIEC), Diffusely adherent  Escherichia.coli   (DAEC) (CDC, 2015). However, the Escherichia.coliO157 strain, which is classified under Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia.coli (STEC), is considered the most harmful as it causes bloody diarrhea, kidney failure and can result indeath (Anon., 2015). It infects its host by producing large amounts of Shiga toxins that damages the intestinal lining severely to cause Hemorrhagic Colitis or otherwise known as bloody diarrhea. It can also cause Hemolytic uremic syndrome which results in kidney injury (Koo, 2014). Salmonellais a common bacterial that usually cause food poisoning which targets the stomach and intestines. It is normally present in meat, eggs, unprocessed milk and poultry (Bech, 2014). The symptoms are diarrhea, nausea, fever, stomach cramps, and vomiting which usually last for 4 to 7 days. The incubation period is between 12 and 72 hours upon infection (England, 2014). However, one must consume Salmonella contaminated food in order to cause infection (FSIS, 2015). Staphylococcus aureusis a common bacteria found on the skin, nasal passages, throats and hair of healthy individuals.Staphylococcalfood contamination can occur when a person who is infected with the bacteria handles the steakwithout proper sanitary handling procedures. Other possible sources of meat contamination of Staphylococcus aureus can also take place such as the surfaces and equipment that the meat is prepared on (Anon., 2015). Staphylococcal food poisoning happens when an individual ingest the enterotoxins that are produced in the contaminated meat, often due to the improper heating up of the meat to kill off most of the bacteria (USFDA, 2014). Listeria monocytogenesis a bacterium that is usually found in soil, water, uncooked and processed meat, cooked or processed food, smoked salmon, vegetables and dairy products (CDC, 2013). Ingestion of food contaminated with this bacterium can cause Listeriosis which is a serious infection (CDC, 2013). AlthoughListeria monocytogenescan be killed by proper cooking, the bacteria can still contaminate the cooked meat due to physical hazards such as poor food handling practices and sanitation (FSIS, 2015). Another potential food safety hazard that I have identify is the use of herbs and spices to marinate the steak. Herbs come from plants and spices are from seeds, bark or roots of plants (Ward, 2010). Because they are from plants, which contains spore-producing bacteria, this indicates that the bacteria spores is capable of further contaminating raw meat which is in contact with soil and vegetative origin.This would introduce additional microbiological hazards such as Bacillus spp. and spore forming organisms which are able to survive the drying process and continue to germinate to produce toxins. During the process of handling with this dried snack food, there should be a food safety management system such as The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. This system is used worldwide by all food businessesto identify and control microbiology activity as well as physical and chemical hazards that might be present during production. It consists of seven principles that govern and maintain food hygiene procedures (ASQ Food, 2014). Therefore, I would advise her to take note of the possible food safety hazards that have been mentioned and the procedures of manufacturing this dried snack food has to be in compliance to the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. b) There are several information that I would like to know as to assist the businesswoman in preparing the dried snack food safely for consumers. The following are the information required: Where was the meat from? Normally, the cattle are raised till maturity in a farm where they are given formulated food. During cattle raising, the cattle are injected with antibiotics to prevent diseases. In order to slaughter the cattle legally, a withdrawal period is needed from the time the antibiotics is given. This is to give sufficient amount of time for the antibiotic residues to be released from the cattle. The United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) would conduct sample testing for antibiotic residues upon slaughtering. Results have shown that the percentages of residue violations are very low and there are no traceable antibiotic residues present in the tissues of the cattle (FSA, 2015). There are several factors that have to be taken into consideration such as the conditions of the farms that the cattle are living and the food that they consume. For example, improper drainage of faeces, design of feeders and drinkers can contribute to the accumulation of bacterial contamination in the farm which leads to the dirty cattle. The cattle are then infected with diseases such as pneumonia, coccidiosis and salmonellosis. Thus, it is important to have a healthy livestock of cattle to avoid all these problems. There are two factors that can contribute to the contamination of meat production chain such as direct and indirect contact of contamination. Direct contact can occur when bacteria that are present on the skin of the cattle such as excrement and mud which can contaminate the meat during the slaughtering process. Whereas, indirect contact could occur when the hands, tools and equipment that are used to slaughter the cattle contains bacteria which will then infect the meat (FSA, 2002). How was the uncooked meat handled? For proper handling of raw beef, place them in a sealed disposable plastic bag. You can either freeze it at -17.8 °C so as to keep it longer (about 6 to 12 months)or refrigerate at 4.4 °C but have to consume it within 3 to 5 days (Safety, 2015). The reason why the meat is to be kept at cold temperatures is because this is to inhibit bacterial growth. Time, temperature and conditions of marinating and cooking the meat? First, the raw steak is marinated with herbs and spices which will introduce additional microbial hazard such asspore forming bacteria to the meat. Thus, for safe marinating procedures, do not marinate at room temperature as most bacteria are able to grow quickly. Instead, marinate the meat in a cold environment so as to avoid entering the danger zone, which is between 4 °C and 60 °C. For beef steak, the approximate time taken to marinate would be 2 to 4 hours (Stradley, 2014). For safe cooking of steak, cook them at a minimum internal temperature of 62.8 °C for about 4 5 minutes per side and allow the meat to rest for at least 3 minutes before eating. This is done to kill off most of the bacteria that might be present on the meat. However, do not cook the steak partially as this does not destroy most of the bacteria and might multiply (USDA, 2015). Time and temperature of the drying process? I would suggest drying the marinated steak strips using an oven at 75 °C as there is a constant circulation of dry air and heat source. The temperature is important in drying this snack food because gentle heatingwill not be sufficient as this does not ensure that any bacteria that might still be present on the meat prior to cooking are killed (USDA, 2015). For example, bacteria such as Bacillus flavother musT  have a maximum temperature cardinal value of 72 °C and if the meat is cooked to the temperature of 60 °C, the bacteria will still be able to survive (Todar, 2008 2012). Thus, they will continue to multiply in numbers and colonize the meat. Storage of final dried meat product? How long is the meat product stored? Always ensure to store dried meat in a vacuum packaging as this will minimize oxygen levels which inhibit the growth of aerobic bacteria. It also helps to reduce the oxidation of the meat which will result in meat spoilage. These will extent the shelf life of the snack food (Anon., 2012). A sealed dried meat product can be stored to a period of 12 months. However, if the dried meat product is made from home, then it can only be kept for about 1 to 2 months (USDA, 2013). Is water activity taken into consideration? Water is a requirement for bacteria growth, thus, it must be removed so as to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. It can be reduced by the drying process and the addition of salt to preserve the meat. How the salt works is that it would absorb all the water on the meat by the process called osmosis (Martin R. Adams and Maurice O. Moss, 2008). Are there hygiene practices done in the preparation of the dried snack food? To prevent cross-contamination, good hygiene practices and procedures are required in regards to handling the snack food. Food handlers should always wash their hands thoroughly with surfactants such as soap before and after handling with meat products. Always clean and disinfect all utensils, equipment and work surfaces before the preparation of the meat product. And do not mix raw and cooked food. Instead, incorporate the use of separate working and storage areas of raw, cooked and dried meat products (FSA, 2015). c) I would suggest the use of aerobic plate count and immunomagnetic separation to test the presence of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia.coli O157 In aerobic plate count, dilutions of the food sample are carried out and are then plated onto agar plates which contain suitable growth nutrients to favor the growth of microorganisms. The plates are then incubated at temperatures that bacteria can grow. After the incubation period, the total numbers of bacterial colonies arecounted; therefore, the total number of viable cells can be estimated (Hayes, 1995). Thelevels of Aerobic Colony Count (ACC) are used as a guidance to determine if the food product is safe for consumption (Agency, 2009). For example, if the Aerobic Colony Count (ACC) levels of bacteria have exceeded the expected level, the product cannot be consumed. For Salmonella spp., the infectious dose is normally 105 organisms, which is quite a big number. Whereas, as for Escherichia.coli O157, the infectious dose isless than 50 organisms (Inc., 2004). For Escherichia.coli O157 and Salmonella, Immunomagnetic separation is used as the â€Å"gold standard† to detect and isolate the bacteria as it is specific and sensitive. Then targeted organism is then isolated which will undergo serotyping for characterization (Inc, 2004). According to the guidelines for the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat foods, they are to be cooked and processed properly, especially with the addition of herbs and spices. It also includes bacteria that can possibly be from the source of poor hygiene. Lastly, tests on ready-to-eat foods are required so that food products which are not in compliance with the microbiological food safety criteria can be identified to protect public health (Agency, 2009). References Agency, H. P., 2009. Guidelines for Assessing the Microbiological Safety of Ready-to-Eat Foods Placed on the Market. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/363146/Guidelines_for_assessing_the_microbiological_safety_of_ready-to-eat_foods_on_the_market.pdf Anon., 2012. Vacuum Packaging of Food Products. [Online] Available at: http://modifiedatmospherepackaging.com/modified-atmosphere-packaging-resources/vacuum-packaging Anon., 2015. E. coli. [Online] Available at: http://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/causes/bacteriaviruses/ecoli/ [Accessed 12 May 2015]. Anon., 2015. Food Safety. [Online] Available at: http://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/causes/bacteriaviruses/staphylococcus/ [Accessed 12 May 2015]. ASQ Food, D. a. C. D., 2014. The Certified HACCP Auditor Handbook. 3rd ed. Wisconsin: American Society for Quality. Bech, C., 2014. Salmonella and food poisoning. [Online] Available at: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/salmonella.htm [Accessed 3 February 2014]. CDC, 2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Online] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/sources.html [Accessed 10 January 2013]. CDC, 2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Online] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/definition.html [Accessed 2 January 2013]. CDC, C. f. D. C. a. P., 2015. E.coli (Escherichia coli). [Online] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/general/index.html [Accessed 16 April 2015]. England, P. H., 2014. Salmonella: guidance, data and analysis. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/salmonella-guidance-data-and-analysis [Accessed 7 June 2014]. FSA, F. S. A., 2002. Red Meat Safety. [Online] Available at: http://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/publication/redmeatsafety.pdf [Accessed March 2004]. FSA, F. S. A., 2015. Cleaner cattle and sheep. [Online] Available at: http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/farmingfood/cleaner-animals/cleaner-cattle-sheep FSA, F. S. A., 2015. Food hygiene for businesses. [Online] Available at: http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/food-hygiene FSIS, 2015. United States Department of Agriculture. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/beef-from-farm-to-table/ct_index [Accessed 24 March 2015]. FSIS, F. S. a. I. S., 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/beef-from-farm-to-table/ct_index [Accessed 24 March 2015]. FSIS, F. S. a. I. S., 2015. United States Department of Agriculture. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/beef-from-farm-to-table/ct_index [Accessed 24 March 2015]. Hayes, P. R., 1995. Food Microbiology and Hygiene. In: 2nd ed. London: Chapman Hall, p. 189. Inc., T. A. S. f. M., 2004. Microbiology Australia. In: D. P. Bishop, ed. Qualitative vs quantitative microbiology. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Cambridge Publishing, p. 11. Inc, T. A. S. f. M., 2004. Microbiology Australia. In: D. P. Bishop, ed. Qualitative vs quantitative microbiology. 3rd ed. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge Publishing, p. 20. Koo, I., 2014. Bloody Diarrhea, or Hemorrhagic Colitis, Caused by E. coli O157:H7. [Online] Available at: http://infectiousdiseases.about.com/od/diseasesbyname/a/E_coli_O157H7.htm [Accessed 30 April 2014]. Martin R. Adams and Maurice O. Moss, 2008. Food Microbiology. 3rd ed. Guildford: The Royal Society of Chemistry. Safety, F., 2015. Storage Times for the Refrigerator and Freezer. [Online] Available at: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/storagetimes.html [Accessed 12 May 2015]. Stradley, L., 2014. Marinating Meat Guidelines Marinating 101. [Online] Available at: http://whatscookingamerica.net/MarinatingSafely.htm Todar, K., 2008 2012. Nutrition and Growth of Bacteria. [Online] Available at: http://textbookofbacteriology.net/nutgro_5.html USDA, U. S. D. o. A., 2013. Jerky and Food Safety. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/jerky-and-food-safety/ct_index [Accessed 6 August 2013]. USDA, U. S. D. o. A., 2015. Beef from Farm to Table. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/beef-from-farm-to-table/ct_index USDA, U. S. D. o. A., 2015. Jerky and Food Safety. [Online] Available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/jerky-and-food-safety/ct_index USFDA, U. F. a. D. A., 2014. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [Online] Available at: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/CausesOfIllnessBadBugBook/ucm070015.htm [Accessed 16 December 2014]. Ward, E. M., 2010. Spices Herbs Health Benefits and Adding Spices To Foods. [Online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/spices-and-herbs-health-benefits [Accessed 5 August 2010].

The mission of the Allianz Group

The mission of the Allianz Group Companys overview Allianz Group is one of the worlds leaders providing insurance and financial services. Allianz SE, the holding company is at the top of the international group with its head office in Munich. Allianz was founded in Berlin, Germany in 1980 (Allianz, 2010). With approximately 152,000 employees worldwide, the Allianz Group serves approximately 75 million customers in about 70 countries. On the insurance side, Allianz is the market leader in the Germany market and has a strong international presence (Allianz, 2010). Allianz has more than 100 years of eventful history. Though Germanys defeat in World War I restricted Allianzs international business, but Allianz slowly ventured outside Germany to other European markets (Allianz, 2010). In the era of National Socialism in post 1933 Nazi Germany, Allianz conformed to the norms of the era. After suffering some business problems during World War II, Allianz started to rebuild post 1945. Starting from the 1950s throughout 60s, 70s and 80s Allianz started to get international by spreading its activities to many countries in Europe and Americas. Allianz began to venture the Asian markets from the 1990s (Allianz, 2010). Allianz Group also expanded its asset management business. Today, Allianz Group is one of the worlds leading financial service providers (Allianz, 2010). The mission of Allianz The mission of Allianz is to achieve sustainable growth of our competitive strength and values. In order to achieve this mission, they implemented a series of measures which characterize as 3+one program. They have an overall 3+1 program: Protecting and enhancing the capital base. Substantially strengthening the operating profitability. Reducing complexity. +One: Increase sustainable competitiveness and value. The organization structure of Allianz Board of Management Supervisory Board International Executive Committee International Advisory Board and Joint Advisory Council Employees The organization culture of Allianz Allianz Group culture combines German characteristic and international flair. In Munich, a lot of language will be using by the people when they talking to each other such as French, German, English, Italian, Chinese and etc. However Allianz values local cultures and markets situation does not dictate a one size all fit solution for the individual location. That why Allianz has defined a strategy framework to guiding standards. So that Allianz Group in the worldwide can adopt the cultural and business requirement to specific regions (Allianz, 2010) The macro environment analysis PEST analysis is concerned with the environmental influences on a business. PEST is stand for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors of the external macro environment. Political factors include government policies relating to the industry, tax policies, laws and regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs etc. The economic factors relate to changes in the wider economy such as economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate etc. social factors often look at the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, changes in tastes and buying patterns etc. The technological factors relate to the application of new inventions and ideas such as RD activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. It is an important tool to understanding risks associated with market growth or decline, and as such the position, potential and direction for a business or organization (Thompson, 2002). Following are the different factors affecting the Allianz insurance in UK. Political Some of these factors had a good impact to the travel, car and home insurance in the UK. The government travelers awareness campaign has brought awareness to the public about the dangers of traveling uninsured highlighting the expensive costs of medical treatments abroad. The travel industry has supported and benefited from this as it increased their sales prospects. The minimum car insurance implemented by the government is third party cover. This has a very good impact on the car insurance industry as this guarantees a sale on every car in the UK and because 76% of adult in the UK have a full driving license, all of them are potential customers (Birtles, 2002). Legal General data revealed that most critical illness cover claims are made by people under 40. (Speedy, 2004) This has been good news for age dedicated home and health care insurance companies as less cover claims means less liabilities. However, according to the Bank of England, the rising tax is slowing down the consumer spending. This has badly affected the whole of the insurance industry as people had less money to spend on higher premiums or packages. Economic In todays world people are more work-orientated, so earning more again translating to larger disposable incomes allowing people to live comfortably take advantage of more expensive schemes in insurance such as taking fully-comprehensive cover rather than third-party (Speedy, 2004). Another economical fact is that we are currently at the boom stage of economic cycle and so people are better off. This means that as stated above people are able to live more comfortably and on a general level are better able to afford things like food, shelter, clothing and health care. This translates to fewer illnesses which mean that insurance companies have less payout to make as less people fail ill (Speedy, 2004). Another important factor to notice about the general public in a boom phase of the economic cycle is that people are more likely to pay for products in the service industry. So things that they may have refrained from due to a lack of money like health insurance will be more welcome during a period of boom so increasing revenue for insurers (Birtles, 2002). Social In todays society there has been an increase in young drivers. They choose to insure on parents cars along with saving the money to buy their own cars. Young drivers aged between 17 and 25 also have a higher chance of being in an accident so they are more costly for an insurer to cover so insurers charge more. For this reason the increase in young drivers translates into larges revenues for insurance companies due to the larger premiums. (Birtles, 2002) Another change in todays society is the increase in the racing culture with large emphasis placed on driving faster and better looking cars. Modified cars are a cheaper alternative to buying a sports car also increasing insurance costs (Speedy, 2004) . In comparison with 30 years ago the average person earns much more today translating to larger disposable incomes. This has leading to more people being able to afford second cars and so being insured on them giving more business to insurance companies (Speedy, 2004). Technology The success of internet and an integrated information and communications technology system has allowed any business to increase sales and reduce transaction costs. The internet has completely changed the delivery service process. Today, internet is used to even sell insurance policies. Internet proving to be one of the widely used distribution networks for selling insurance policies. Also internet is used for sending premium notices to policy holders through e-mails (Shinde, et al., 2008) Besides that, internet has a premium calculator which accurately displays the amount of premium month wise and the remaining balance. One just has to enter the age, name of the insurance policy, the sum assured and whether there is an accident cover or not. By keying in this information, the entire premium amounts are shown within no time. This has helped the customer in a way so that they dont have to travel all the way to the branch to ascertain the amount of premium to be paid (Shinde, et al., 2008) The international consideration Allianz operate almost in every continent. The regions are Eastern Europe, Central Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Americas and Middle East Africa. Allianz is deeply rooted in their domestic market which is Western, Northern Southern Europe. Western Europe is the home of Allianz. (Allianz, 2010) When Allianz wants doing an international business, Allianz will consider the human resource, financial and legal requirement into particular country. Allianz start a new venture in China, financial will incurred in that China will lower than having a new venture in Europe. Furthermore Allianz can get a large human resource in China. This is because the population in China is very large. Allianz also can save cost. The wage pay to the labor is lower and produced the production in a lower cost (Allianz, 2010). When a company intend to going international, they will consider the macroeconomic that will affect in their business. Before enter to a new country or new venture. They will do a research about the external environment of that country or region first and then only decide whether to start the new venture into that country or not. While Allianz also does the something. The macro environment that consider to the company are political or legal condition, economic condition, social issue environment and technology. Those are significant to evaluate a country before doing an international business (Allianz, 2010). There are several methods of going international when a company intends to go international. The company can go international based on export based, non-equity based and equity based. For Allianz which a company just provide services, it use equity based method to going international which include joint ventures and foreign direct investment (FDI). The first company or office that Allianz venture in is in London with open a subsidiary company (Allianz, 2010). Allianz officially ventured into Malaysia in 2001when it became the controlling shareholder of Allianz General Insurance Malaysia Berhad (AGIM). In 2007, the general insurance business of AGIM was transferred to its wholly owned subsidiary, AGIC. Following the completion of the transfer of general insurance business, AGIM changed its name to AMB and became an investment holding company (Allianz, 2010). There are several issues that faced Allianz in Malaysia. One of the issues that face in Allianz currently is the managing climate change risk. Managing climate change risk is one of the biggest challenges the financial services industry is facing today with several impact on the insurance industry. In the past 30 years, claims payments to the victims of great natural catastrophes have increased 15 fold to approx. 30 billion Euros (approximately RM120 billion). Allianz settles 40% of industrial insurance claims are due to natural catastrophes (Allianz, 2010) To manage climate change risks, Loeffler (2010) recognize climate change as a matter of great strategic consequence for Allianz. Allianz need to assess together with their clients on how to mitigate the risks. At the same time the challenges for Allianz is to adapt to the impact of climate change and to safeguard insurability of risk in future. In 2007, Allianz established Allianz Climate Solutions as a subsidiary with the explicit aim to develop new products and identify investment trends related to climate change. The insurance business needs to act as an early warning system and help business and society understand the new risks. There are several ways to prepare for the effects of climate change. Providing risk coverage for emerging technologies for example plays an important role in their future development. Securing the insurability of risks is essential for economies to be able to operate (Loeffler, 2010) The growth of business New venture Conclusion

Free Hamlet Essays: The Downfall of Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

The Downfall of Hamlet There are many reasons why Hamlet had his downfall. One being his decision to keeping the murder of his father a secret. Another one being the betrayals of his closest friends. Perhaps if Guildenstern or Rosencrantz had been there for Hamlet, to rely and place trust upon, he might not had to fell so alone. A little sympathy from his girlfriend Ophelia, and even his mother Gertrude would have been nice as well. Unfortunately Ophelia is held back from Hamlet, due to her father. Gertrude marries his uncle Claudius, who is responsible for his fathers death, and is looking to kill him next. And Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are ordered by Claudius to spy on Hamlet, and betray him as a friend. How Gertrude can marry the brother, and murderer of her deceased husband beats me! How she got re-married so quickly after the death, and without even consulting with her son Hamlet just proves how much of an ugly person she really is. "Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."( I;ii; 180-181). What beats me is how even after Hamlet told his mother that Claudius was responsible for his fathers death, she still decided to stay with him. Which is absolute proof of how self centred she is, and how much her son means to her. "A bloody deed almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry his brother."( III;iv;29-30). Hamlet, now having no blood family left to lean on, finds himself feeling very alone. But cannot see his downfall coming. For Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to betray Hamlet the way they did is utterly despicable. Especially considering that their taking the orders from Claudius. Claudius turns out to be quite a good lire, and shows his skill of being able to manipulate people, into doing what he wants. "Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Moreover that we much did long to see you, the need we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending". ( II;ii; 1-4). Since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spied on Hamlet, and brought back the fact that he is mad to Claudius. Claudius could then figure out Hamlet’s next move, and counter act it with his own. " Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul." ( III; i; 161). If Claudius hadn’t had Guildenstern or Rosencrantz to aid him in his efforts, I think Hamlet could have had a chance at survival.

Essay --

Animal protection and conservation acts began to appear in the 1900's following the near extinction of the bison and the passenger pigeon. Ignorance regarding the idea of extinction combined with the popularity of hunting, severely hurt these species. Hunters and naturalists killed wildlife for game and study without much thought for the species’ survival. In addition the rapid industrialization threatened the natural habitats of thousands of species. The first major piece of animal legislation was the Lacey Act of 1900 which prohibited interstate commerce of animals killed in violation of state gaming laws. Other laws of the era included the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929 and the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 (Klyza). In the 1960's legislation moved from regulation to preservation. The Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 was the first real attempt at preservation. When designating 78 animals to the 1996 list, Secretary of the Interior Mark Udall said th at â€Å"an informed public will act to help reduce the dangers threatening these rare animals† (AP). The goal was to inform the public that certain species were in danger and to protect the species before major damage could occur. Although there was legislation prior to 1973, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was the most wide reaching and important pieces of environmental legislation that passed in the 1970's. Following a string of environmental disasters, citizens became more aware and started to demand environmental legislation. From Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, to the inaugural Earth day in 1970 with about 20 million attendees, environmental issues started to receive â€Å"massive exposure. This exposure helped consolidate a growing public awarene... ...roduct of the 1970’s and the environmental movement, is not the best law possible but it does do a fine job as the only real animal protection law. The ESA’s goal of preserving species â€Å" like others included in environmental legislation at the time, was unrealistic† (Klyza). The ESA could never do as much as its creators would have liked, but to repeal the law would leave hundreds of species unprotected. The country needs to protect the fragile ecosystems that it houses and the ESA has helped with that. The ESA is essential because it protects the ecosystems that once destroyed, cannot be rebuilt. The protection of ecosystems has truly become the ESA’s largest and most important contribution. The ESA or any similar legislation could not pass today with the intensely partisan Congress and thus it needs to stay as the only true protection for North American species.

English Renaissance Drama Essay

English Renaissance drama grew out of the established Medieval tradition of the mystery and morality plays. These public spectacles focused on religious subjects and were generally enacted by either choristers and monks, or a town’s tradesmen (as later seen lovingly memorialized by Shakespeare’s ‘mechanicals’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream). At the end of the fifteenth century, a new type of play appeared. These short plays and revels were performed at noble households and at court, especially at holiday times. These short entertainments, called â€Å"Interludes†, started the move away from the didactic nature of the earlier plays toward purely secular plays, and often added more comedy than was present in the medieval predecessors. Since most of these holiday revels were not documented and play texts have disappeared and been destroyed, the actual dating of the transition is difficult. The first extant purely secular play, Henry Medwall’s Fulgens and Lucres, was performed at the household of Cardinal Morton, where the young Thomas More was serving as a page. Early Tudor interludes soon grew more elaborate, incorporating music and dance, and some, especially those by John Heywood, were heavily influenced by French farce. Not only were plays shifting emphasis from teaching to entertaining, they were also slowly changing focus from the religious towards the political. John Skelton’s Magnyfycence (1515), for example, while on the face of it resembling the medieval allegory plays with its characters of Virtues and Vices, was a political satire against Cardinal Wolsey. Magnyfycence was so incendiary that Skelton had to move into the sanctuary of Westminster to escape the wrath of Wolsey. The first history plays were written in the 1530’s, the most notable of which was John Bale’s King Johan. While it considered matters of morality and religion, these were handled in the light of the Reformation. These plays set the precedent of presenting history in the dramatic medium and laid the foundation for what would later be elevated by Marlowe and Shakespeare into the English History Play, or Chronicle Play, in the latter part of the century. Not only was the Reformation taking hold in England, but the winds of Classical Humanism were sweeping in from the Continent. Interest grew in the classics and the plays of classical antiquity, especially in the universities. Latin texts were being â€Å"Englysshed† and latin poetry and plays began to be adapted into English plays. In 1553, a schoolmaster named Nicholas Udall wrote an English comedy titled â€Å"Ralph Roister Doister† based on the traditional Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence. The play was the first to introduce the Latin character type miles gloriosus (â€Å"braggart soldier†) into English plays, honed to perfection later by Shakespeare in the character of Falstaff. Around the same time at Cambridge, the comedy â€Å"Gammer Gurton’s Needle†, possibly by William Stevens of Christ’s College, was amusing the students. It paid closer attention to the structure of the Latin plays and was the first to adopt the five-act division. Writers were also developing English tragedies for the first time, influenced by Greek and Latin writers. Among the first forays into English tragedy were Richard Edwards’ Damon and Pythias (1564) and John Pickering’s New Interlude of Vice Containing the History of Horestes (1567). The most influential writer of classical tragedies, however, was the Roman playwright Seneca, whose works were translated into English by Jasper Heywood, son of playwright John Heywood, in 1589. Seneca’s plays incorporated rhetorical speeches, blood and violence, and often ghosts; components which were to figure prominently in both Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. The first prominent English tragedy in the Senecan mould was Gorboduc (1561), written by two lawyers, Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, at the Inns of Court (schools of law). Apart from following Senecan conventions and structure, the play is most important as the first English play to be in blank verse. Blank verse, non-rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, was introduced into English literature by sonneteers Wyatt and Surrey in the 1530’s. Its use in a work of dramatic literature paved the way for â€Å"Marlowe’s mighty line† and the exquisite poetry of Shakespeare’s dramatic verse. With a new ruler on the throne, Queen Elizabeth I, who enjoyed and encouraged the theatrical arts, the stage was set for the body of dramatic  literature we today call Elizabethan Drama. The Social and Political Climate In 1600, the city of London had a population of 245,000 people, twice the size of Paris or Amsterdam. Playwriting was the least personal form of writing, but clearly the most profitable for literary men since the demand was so great: 15,000 people attended the playhouses weekly. What is often exploited in the plays is the tension between a Court culture and a commercial culture, which in turn reflected the tension between the City government and the Crown. The period from 1576 (date of the first public theatre in London) to 1642 (date that the Puritans closed the theatres) is unparalleled in its output and quality of literature in English. The monarchy rested on two claims: that it was of divine origin and that it governed by consent of the people. The period was one of great transition. This period of history is generally regarded as the English Renaissance, which took place approximately 100 years later than on the continent. The period also coincides with the Reformation, and the two eras are of course mutually related. Imposed upon the Elizabethans was a social hierarchy of order and degree—very much medieval concepts that existed more in form than in substance. The society of Shakespeare’s time had in many ways broken free of these rigidities. It was not that people were rejecting the past; rather, a new more rigid order was replacing the old. This was set into motion during Henry VIII’s reign in the 1530s when he assumed more power than had hitherto been known to the monarchy. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 gave to Henry the power of the Church as well as temporal power. By Shakespeare’s time the state had asserted its right in attempting to gain authority in secular and spiritual matters alike. The so-called â€Å"Tudor myth† had sought to justify actions by the crown, and selections for the monarchy, as God-sanctioned: to thwart those decisions was to sin, because these people were selected by God. The population of the City quadrupled from Henry VIII’s reign to the end of Shakespeare’s life (1616), thus adding to the necessity for civil control and law. The dissolution of the monasteries had caused much civil unrest, and the dispossessed monks and nuns had been forced to enter the work force. Thus the employment, or unemployment, problem was severe. Puritanism, which first emerged early in Elizabeth’s reign, was a minority force of churchmen, Members of Parliament, and others who felt that the Anglican Reformation had stopped short of its goal. Puritans used the Bible as a guide to conduct, not simply to faith, but to political and social life, and since they could read it in their own language, it took on for them a greater importance than it had ever held. They stressed particularly the idea of remembering the Sabbath day. The conflict between the Puritans and the â€Å"players† of the theatre—who performed for the larger crowds that would turn out for productions on the Sabbath—was established early. The Elizabethan Worldview The English Renaissance began with the importation of Italian art and philosophy, Humanism, during the reign of Henry VIII. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, imported and translated classical writings, such as Virgil’s Aeneid, the first English work to use Blank Verse. Surrey and Sir Thomas Wyatt in their sonnets also imitated classical writers such as Petrarch, and are credited as â€Å"Fathers of the English Sonnet.† While the â€Å"Great Chain of Being† (an idea suggested from antiquity; all that exists is in a created order, from the lowest possible grade to perfection, God Himself) was still asserted, the opposite, the reality of disorder, was just as prevalent. Not surprisingly, a favorite metaphor in Shakespeare’s works is the world upside down, much as Hamlet presents. The analogical mode was the prevailing intellectual concept for the era, which was inherited from the Middle Ages: the analogical habit of mind, with its correspondences, hierarchies, and microcosmic-macrocosmic relationships,  survived from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Levels of existence, including human and cosmic, were habitually correlated, and correspondences and resemblances were perceived everywhere. Man was a mediator between himself and the universe. An â€Å"analogy of being† likened man to God; however, the Reformation sought to change this view, emphasizing man’s fallen nature and darkness of reason. The analogy can be seen in the London theatre, correlating the disparate planes of earth (the stage), hell (the cellarage), and heaven (the â€Å"heavens,† projecting above the top of the stage). Degree, priority, and place were afforded all elements, depending on their distance from perfection, God. Because he possessed both soul and body, man had a unique place in the chain—the extremes of human potential are everywhere evident in the drama of the English Renaissance. Natural degeneration, in contrast to our optimistic idea of progress, was everywhere in evidence too—the primitive Edenic â€Å"golden age† was irrecoverable, and the predicted end of the world was imminent. With changes in the ways that man looked at his universe, disturbing discoveries suggested mutability and corruption: the terrifying effect of new stars, comets, etc., added to a pessimism that anticipated signs of decay as apocalyptic portents of approaching universal dissolution. Hierarchically, the human soul was threefold: the highest, or rational soul, which man on earth possessed uniquely; the sensual, or appetitive soul, which man shared with lower animals; and the lowest, or vegetative (vegetable; nutritive) soul, concerned mainly with reproduction and growth. The soul was facilitated in its work by the body’s three main organs, liver, heart, and brain: the liver served the soul’s vegetal, the heart its vital, and the brain its animal faculties—motive, principal virtues, etc. Man himself was formed by a natural combination of the four elements: the dull elements of earth and water—both tending to fall to the center of the universe—and air and fire—both tending to rise. When the elements mixed they shaped man’s temperament. Each element possessed two of the four primary qualities which combined into a â€Å"humour† or human temperament: earth (cold and dry: melancholy), water (cold and moist: phlegmatic); air (hot and  moist: sanguine); fire (hot and dry: choleric). Like his soul and his humours, man’s body possessed cosmic affinities: the brain with the Moon; the liver with the planet Jupiter; the spleen with the planet Saturn. Assigned to each of the stars and the sphere of fixed stars was a hierarchy of incorporeal spirits, angels or daemons. On earth, the fallen angels and Satan, along with such occult forces as witches, continued to tempt man and lead him on to sin. Familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries were the Aristotelian four causes: the final cause, or purpose or end for which a change is made; the efficient cause, or that by which some change is made; the material cause, or that in which a change is made; and formal cause, or that into which something is changed. Renaissance concern with causation may be seen in Polonius’ laboring of the efficient â€Å"cause† of Hamlet’s madness, â€Å"For this effect defective comes by cause† (2.2.101-03). In the Aristotelian view, change involves a unity between potential matter and actualized form. Change is thus a process of becoming, affected by a cause which acts determinately towards a goal to produce a result. Implicit in the Elizabethan worldview was the Aristotelian idea of causation as encompassing potentiality and act, matter and mind. The London dramatist’s pre-Cartesian universe, indeed, tended to retain a sense of the purposefulness of natural objects and their place in the divine scheme. Towards the mid-seventeenth century a major cleft between the medieval-Renaissance world-view and the modern world view took place, effected by Renee Descartes (1596-1650). Cartesian dualism separated off mind from matter, and soul from body—not a new idea, but reformulated so that the theologians’ doctrines became the philosophers’; the problems of Predestination were suddenly the problems of Determinism. For Descartes, all nature was to be explained as either thought or extension; hence, the mind became a purely thinking substance, the body a soulless mechanical system. Descartes’ philosophy held that one can know only one’s  own clear and distinct ideas. Objects are important only insofar as man brings his own judgments to bear upon them. Cartesian skepticism and subjectivism led to the rejection of the previous centuries’ Aristotelian perspectives, as meaningless or obscure. According to Aristotle, to know the cause of things was to know their nature. For the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, objects influenced each other through mutual affinities and antipathies. Elizabethans accepted the correspondences of sympathies and antipathies in nature, including a homeopathic notion that â€Å"like cures like.† Well into the seventeenth century, alchemical, hermetical, astrological, and other pre-scientific beliefs continued to exert, even on the minds of distinguished scientists, a discernible influence. Concerned with the need to believe, in an age of incipient doubt, theatre audiences often witnessed in tragedies such struggles to sustain belief: Hamlet has a need to trust the Ghost; Lear has a wracked concern for heavenly powers; and Othello feels a desperate necessity to preserve his belief in Desdemona—†when I love thee not, / Chaos is come again† (3.3.92-3). For Othello and Lear, belief is sanity. Theologically, in the later sixteenth century, divine providence seemed increasingly to be questioned, or at least to be regarded as more bafflingly inscrutable. The medieval sense of security was in a process of transformation. Those changes coincided with such circumstances as the Renaissance revival of Epicureanism, which stressed the indifference of the powers above to man’s concerns. In its place was a special personal power, which was emphasized in the works of Machiavelli (1469-1527) and other Renaissance writers. Such changes in the relations of man and his deity inevitably provided a climate for tragedy, wherein both divine justice (as in King Lear) and meaningful action (as in Hamlet) seemed equally unattainable. Lear appears to question the forces above man’s life, and Hamlet the powers beyond his death. Hamlet’s task is further complicated, for example, by his meaningless  quest for action—from a Reformation standpoint—of works toward salvation. The path to salvation, of great concern to most Elizabethans, was not through works or merit but by inscrutable divine election. The post-Reformation man, alienated from the objective structure of the traditional Church, as well as from the release of the confessional, with a burdened and isolated conscience, turned his guilt inward. The Renaissance epistemological crisis emphasized the notion of the relativity of perception, present in the appearance-versus-reality motif recurrent through Renaissance drama. The Renaissance dramatists’ works mark a transition between absolute natural law bestowed by God, and relativistic natural law, recognized by man. The Playhouses The old Medieval stage of â€Å"place-and-scaffolds,† still in use in Scotland in the early sixteenth century, had fallen into disuse; the kind of temporary stage that was dominant in England about 1575 was the booth stage of the marketplace—a small rectangular stage mounted on trestles or barrels and â€Å"open† in the sense of being surrounded by spectators on three sides. The stage proper of the booth stage generally measured from 15 to 25 ft. in width and from 10 to 15 ft. in depth; its height above the ground averaged a bout 5 ft. 6 in., with extremes ranging as low as 4 ft. and as high as 8 ft.; and it was backed by a cloth-covered booth, usually open at the top, which served as a tiring-house (short for â€Å"attiring house,† where the actors dressed). In the England of 1575 there were two kinds of buildings, designed for functions other than the acting of plays, which were adapted by the players as temporary outdoor playhouses: the animal-baiting rings or â€Å"game houses† (e.g. Bear Garden) and the inns. Presumably, a booth stage was set up against a wall at one side of the yard, with the audience standing in the yard surrounding the stage on three sides. Out of these â€Å"natural† playhouses  grew two major classes of permanent Elizabethan playhouse, â€Å"public† and â€Å"private.† In general, the public playhouses were large outdoor theatres, whereas the private playhouses were smaller indoor theatres. The maximum capacity of a typical public playhouse (e.g., the Swan) was about 3,000 spectators; that of a typical private playhouse (e.g., the Second Blackfriars), about 700 spectators. At the public playhouses the majority of spectators were â€Å"groundlings† who stood in the dirt yard for a penny; the remainder were sitting in galleries and boxes for two pence or more. At the private playhouses all spectators were seated (in pit, galleries, and boxes) and paid sixpence or more. In the beginning, the private playhouses were used exclusively by Boys’ companies, but this distinction disappeared about 1609 when the King’s Men, in residence at the Globe in the summer, began using the Blackfriars in winter. Originally the private playhouses were found only within the City of London (the Paul’s Playhouse, the First and Second Blackfriars), the public playhouses only in the suburbs (the Theatre, the Curtain, the Rose, the Globe, the Fortune, the Red Bull); but this distinction disappeared about 1606 with the opening of the Whitefriars Playhouse to the west of Ludgate. Public-theatre audiences, though socially heterogeneous, were drawn mainly from the lower classes—a situation that has caused modern scholars to refer to the public-theatre audiences as â€Å"popular†; whereas private-theatre audiences tended to consist of gentlemen (those who were university educated) and nobility; â€Å"select† is the word most usually opposed to â€Å"popular† in this respect. James Burbage, father to the famous actor Richard Burbage of Shakespeare’s company, built the first permanent theatre in London, the Theatre, in 1576. He probably merely adapted the form of the baiting-house to theatrical needs. To do so he built a large round structure very much like a baiting-house but with five major innovations in the received form. First, he paved the ring with brick or stone, thus paving the pit into a  Ã¢â‚¬Å"yard.† Second, Burbage erected a stage in the yard—his model was the booth stage of the marketplace, larger than used before, with posts rather than trestles. Third, he erected a permanent tiring-house in place of the booth. Here his chief model was the passage screens of the Tudor domestic hall. They were modified to withstand the weather by the insertion of doors in the doorways. Presumably the tiring-house, as a permanent structure, was inset into the frame of the playhouse rather than, as in the older temporary situation of the booth stage, set up against the frame of a baiting-house. The gallery over the tiring-house (presumably divided into boxes) was capable of serving variously as a â€Å"Lord’s room† for privileged or high-paying spectators, as a music-room, and as a station for the occasional performance of action â€Å"above† as, for example, Juliet’s balcony. Fourth, Burbage built a â€Å"cover† over the rear part of the stage, called â€Å"the Heavens†, supported by posts rising from the yard and surmounted by a â€Å"hut.† And fifth, Burbage added a third gallery to the frame. The theory of origin and development suggested in the preceding accords with our chief pictorial source of information about the Elizabethan stage, the â€Å"De Witt† drawing of the interior of the Swan Playhouse (c. 1596). It seems likely that most of the round public playhouses—specifically, the Theatre (1576), the Swan (1595), the First Globe (1599), the Hope (1614), and the Second Globe (1614)—were of about the same size. The Second Blackfriars Playhouse of 1596 was designed by James Burbage, and he built his playhouse in the upper-story Parliament Chamber of the Upper Frater of the priory. The Parliament Chamber measured 100 ft. in length, but for the playhouse Burbage used only two-thirds of this length. The room in question, after the removal of partitions dividing it into apartments, measured 46 ft. in width and 66 ft. in length. The stage probably measured 29 ft. in width and 18 ft. 6 in. in depth. The Staging Conventions In the private theatres, act-intervals and music between acts were customary from the beginning. A music-room was at first lacking in the public playhouses, since public-theatre performances did not originally employ act-intervals and inter-act music. About 1609, however, after the King’s men had begun performing at the Blackfriars as well as at the Globe, the custom of inter-act music seems to have spread from the private to the public playhouses, and with it apparently came the custom of using one of the tiring-house boxes over the stage as a music-room. The drama was conventional, not realistic: poetry was the most obvious convention, others included asides, soliloquies, boys playing the roles of women, battles (with only a few participants), the daylight convention (many scenes are set at night, though the plays took place in mid-afternoon under the sky), a convention of time (the clock and calendar are used only at the dramatist’s discretion), the convention of â€Å"eavesdropping† (many characters overhear others, which the audience is privy to but the overheard characters are not), and movement from place to place as suggested by the script and the audience’s imagination. Exits were strong, and when everyone departed the stage, a change of scene was indicated. There was relatively little scenery. Scenery was mostly suggestive; for example, one or two trees standing in for a whole forest. The elaborate costumes—for which companies paid a great deal of money—supplied the color and pageantry. Minimal scenery and limited costume changes made the transitions between scenes lightning-fast and kept the story moving. There was often dancing before and after the play—at times, during, like the peasants’ dance in Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale. Jigs were often given at the end of performances, a custom preserved still today at Shakespeare’s Globe. The jigs at the theatre were not always mere dances, they were sometimes comprised of songs and bawdy knockabout farces filled with commentaries on current events. Perhaps the most famous jig was the one performed by Will Kemp, the clown in Shakespeare’s company, over a nine day period in 1599, on  the road from London to Norwich. It was published in 1600 as Kemps nine daies wonder. After 1600, the bawdy jigs fell into derision and contempt and were only performed at theatres such as the Red Bull, which catered to an audience appreciative of the lowest humor and most violent action. The clowns were the great headliners of the Elizabethan stage prior to the rise of the famed tragedians of the late 1580s, such as Edward (Ned) Alleyn and Richard Burbage. Every company had a top clown along with the tragedianæ ¡ ½hakespeareæŠ ¯ company was no exception: Richard Tarleton was the clown until his death in 1588, Will Kemp was the clown until forced out of the company in 1599, to be replaced by another famous clown, Robin Armin. The clowns not only performed the aforementioned jigs, but also played many of the great comic characters; Kemp most likely played Peter in Romeo and Juliet and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Armin the parts of Feste in Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear. From contemporary documents, we know there were over a thousand actors in England between 1580-1642*. Most were poor, â€Å"starving actors†, but a few dozen were able to make names for themselves and become shareholders in their respective companies, and make a good living. The repertory system was demanding esides playing six days a week, a company would be in continual rehearsal in order to add new plays and to refresh old ones in their schedule. A player would probably learn a new role every week, with thirty to forty roles in his head. No minor feat, especially considering that an actor would only get his lines and cues (in a rolled up parchment, his â€Å"roll†, from which we get the word â€Å"role†), not a whole script! Over a period of three years, a tragedian such as Edward Alleyn, lead player for the Admiral’s Men, would learn not only fifty new parts but also retain twenty or more old roles.

The Indigo Spell Chapter Twenty-Three

FOR A MOMENT, I THOUGHT it had to be a coincidence. After all, what was so special about a peridot star? For all I knew, Alicia might have been born in August and was just sporting her birthstone among that mess of necklaces she always wore. And yet, if there was one thing I believed more than ever, it was Sonya's adage that there were no coincidences in the world of the supernatural. I sank to the floor and tried to reason my way through things. If the charm Alicia had worn was like this one, then it meant she too was a strong magic user trying to mask her abilities. Did she know about Veronica? Was Alicia trying to protect herself? If so, then it seemed like she wouldn't have been so casual about Veronica staying at the inn. So, that meant either Alicia didn't know about Veronica's true nature – again, a suspicious coincidence – or that Alicia was covering for Veronica. Could Alicia be in league with Veronica? That seemed the likeliest answer to me. Although Veronica apparently sought out young, powerful magic users, it was totally possible that she'd seen the advantage of having one as an assistant. And, as we'd observed, Veronica had plenty of other victims to choose from. Alicia could therefore help and cover up Veronica's nefarious plans – like when a curious couple came asking questions. I groaned. Alicia had been playing us from the beginning. From the instant we'd stepped through her door with stories about our anniversary and â€Å"friend† Veronica, she'd known we were lying. She'd known we weren't actually friends with Veronica, and she might have been strong enough to fight Adrian's compulsion a little. She'd gone along with everything – even being so helpful as to call me when Veronica had shown up again. I had no idea now what was true, if Veronica had ever left in the first place or returned from being gone. I did, however, have a sinking suspicion that my car wasn't the only one she'd incapacitated. I could understand if she'd used the cross to find me, but how had she initially located the Mustang? I racked my brain for any identifying information. Adrian's spirit magic should have muddled our appearances, covering up any connection to us. Then I knew. Alicia had walked us out and admired the Mustang. A clever person – someone who was already on high alert because of our visit – could've made note of the license plate and used it to track down where Adrian lived. But why slash the tires? To delay us, I realized. That was the night Lynne had been attacked. And we had arrived too late to warn her. The more I began to sift through the events of the last few weeks, the more I began to think we had been very, very careless. We'd thought we were being so cautious about concealing ourselves from Veronica. No one, not even Ms. Terwilliger, had considered that she might have an accomplice we also had to watch out for. And the dreams . . . those had started the day Adrian and I had been on the velvet bed. The day my garnet had slipped and had possibly been enough for Alicia to sense a magic user in the inn. Which brought me back to the present. Ms. Terwilliger. I had to tell her what I'd found. I called for a third time. Still no answer. Although I often had images of Ms. Terwilliger conducting late-night rituals, it was entirely reasonable that she'd be in bed right now. Was this the kind of thing that could wait until morning? No, I decided on the spot. No, it wasn't. We were dealing with dangerous, violent magic users – and my car had just been attacked. Something might be happening as I stood there, trying to decide. I would have to wake her up . . . provided I could get to her. It took only a moment to make my next decision. I called Adrian. He answered on the first ring but sounded wary, which I couldn't blame him for after what I'd done earlier. â€Å"Hello?† I prayed he was the noble guy I thought he was. â€Å"Adrian, I know things are bad between us, and maybe I have no right to ask, but I need a favor. It's about Veronica.† There was no hesitation. â€Å"What do you need?† â€Å"Can you come over to Amberwood? I need you to help me break curfew and escape my dorm.† There were a few moments of silence. â€Å"Sage, I've been waiting two months to hear you say those words. You want me to bring a ladder?† The plan was already unfolding in my head. The security guards that patrolled at night would have eyes on the student parking lot, but the back property would be relatively unguarded. â€Å"I'll get myself out of the building. If you come up the main road that leads to Amberwood and then go past the driveway you'll see a little service road that runs up a hill and goes behind my dorm. Park there near the utility shed, and I'll meet you as soon as I get out.† When he spoke again, his earlier levity was gone. â€Å"I'd really like to believe this is some awesome midnight adventure, but it's not, is it? Something's gone really wrong.† â€Å"Very wrong,† I agreed. â€Å"I'll explain in the car.† I quickly changed into clean jeans and a T-shirt, adding a light suede jacket against the evening chill. To be safe, I also decided to pack my bag with a few supplies and bring it along. If all went well, I'd simply be warning Ms. Terwilliger tonight. But with the way things had been going lately, I couldn't presume anything would be simple. Bringing the suitcase this time would be unwieldy, so I had to make a few quick decisions about chemicals and magical components. I tossed some in the bag and stuffed others in my jeans and coat pockets. Once I was ready, I headed down to Julia and Kristin's room. They were dressed for bed but not asleep yet. When Julia saw me with my coat and bag, her eyes went wide. â€Å"Sweet,† she said. â€Å"I know you've gotten out before,† I said. â€Å"How'd you do it?† Julia's many dates often occurred outside of sanctioned school hours, and both she and Kristin had bragged about Julia's exploits in the past. I'd hoped perhaps Julia knew about a secret tunnel out of the school and that I wouldn't have to attempt some crazy feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I had to do. She and Kristin walked me to their window and pointed at a large tree growing outside it. â€Å"This room has a view and easy access,† said Kristin proudly. I eyed the gnarled tree warily. â€Å"That's easy?† â€Å"Half the dorm's used it,† she said. â€Å"So can you.† â€Å"We should be charging people,† mused Julia. She flashed me a smile. â€Å"Don't worry. We'll give you a freebie tonight. Just start on that big limb there, swing over there, and then use those branches for handholds.† I found it amazing that someone who'd claimed badminton in PE was too â€Å"dangerous† would have no qualms about scaling a tree from her third-floor room. Of course, Marcus's apartment had been on the fourth floor, and that fire escape had been a million times more unsafe than this tree. Thoughts of Alicia and Ms. Terwilliger snapped me back to the importance of my mission, and I gave Julia and Kristin a decisive nod. â€Å"Let's do this,† I said. Julia cheered and opened the window for me. Kristin watched just as eagerly. â€Å"Please tell me you're running off to meet some breathtakingly handsome guy,† she said. I paused, just as I was about to climb out. â€Å"Yes, actually. But not in the way you're thinking.† Once I made it to the limb Julia had indicated, I discovered she was right. It was pretty simple – so simple, in fact, that I was surprised no school official had noticed this easy access escape route and chopped it down. Well, so much the better for those of us with late-night errands. I made it to the ground and waved goodbye to my watching friends. The dorm's back property had some lights on it, exactly for the reason of deterring wayward students like me. It was also along the patrol route of one of the security guards but wasn't a spot he stayed regularly stationed at. He wasn't in sight, so I crossed my fingers that he was busy with another part of his beat. There were enough shadows on the lawn that I was able to stay within them the whole way – until I reached the back fence. It was lit up pretty well, and really, the only assets I had were that I was a fast climber and that the guard hadn't surfaced yet. Falling back on that hope that the universe owed me some favors – especially after tricking me about Alicia – I gulped and scrambled over. No one shouted at me when I landed on the other side, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd made it out. Getting back in would be harder, but that was a problem for later, hopefully one Ms. Terwilliger could help out with. I found Adrian waiting for me in the Mustang, exactly where I'd indicated. He gave me a sidelong glance as he drove us away. â€Å"No black catsuit?† â€Å"It's in the laundry.† He smiled. â€Å"Of course it is. Now, where are we going, and what's going on?† â€Å"We're going to Ms. Terwilliger's,† I said. â€Å"And what's going on is that we've been walking around in front of the enemy this entire time without even realizing it.† I watched Adrian as I related my revelations and saw his face go from disbelieving to dismayed the more I spoke. â€Å"Her aura was too perfect,† he said once I finished. â€Å"Perfectly neutral, perfectly average. No one's is like that. I brushed it off, though. Figured maybe it was just a weird human one.† â€Å"Can someone influence how their aura looks?† I asked. â€Å"Not to that extent,† he said. â€Å"I don't know enough about these charms you guys use, but I'm guessing it was one of those that skewed the way her colors looked.† I slumped into the seat, still angry at not having figured this out sooner. â€Å"On the bright side, she doesn't know we're on to her and Veronica. That could give us an advantage.† When we reached Ms. Terwilliger's house, we found all the lights on, which was a surprise. I'd assumed she was in bed, though this certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd missed a phone call. Only, when we reached the house and knocked on the door, there was no answer. Adrian and I exchanged looks. â€Å"Maybe she had to leave abruptly,† he said. The tone of his voice conveyed what his words didn't. What if Ms. Terwilliger had already found out what we had and had taken off to fight Alicia and Veronica? I had no idea how powerful Alicia was, but the odds didn't seem promising. When no answer came from my second knock, I nearly kicked the door in frustration. â€Å"Now what?† Adrian turned the doorknob, and the door opened right up. â€Å"How about we wait for her?† he suggested. I grimaced. â€Å"I don't know if I'm comfortable breaking into her place.† â€Å"She left the door unlocked. She's practically inviting us in.† He pushed the door open farther and looked at me expectantly. I didn't want to go back to Amberwood without speaking to her tonight, nor did I want to sit on her doorstep. Hoping she wouldn't mind us making ourselves at home, I gave a nod of resignation and followed Adrian inside. Her house was the same as ever, cluttered and redolent with the scent of incense. Suddenly, I came to a standstill. â€Å"Wait. Something's different.† It took me a moment to figure it out, and when I did, I couldn't believe I hadn't realized it immediately. â€Å"The cats are gone.† â€Å"Holy shit,† said Adrian. â€Å"You're right.† At least one of them always came to greet visitors, and others were usually visible on furniture, under tables, or simply occupying the middle of the floor. But now, there were no cats in sight. I stared around in disbelief. â€Å"What in the world could – â€Å" An earsplitting shriek made me jump. I looked down toward my hip and found the dragon sticking his head out of my satchel and trying to claw his way up my side. Belatedly, I realized I'd forgotten to cover the aquarium. He'd apparently slipped inside the bag back in my room. The sound he was making now was similar to his hunger cry – except even more annoying. Then, impossibly, he nipped my leg. I bent over and tried to pull him off me. â€Å"I don't have any pie! What are you trying to – ahh!† Something zoomed over my head and smashed into the wall behind me with a loud splat. A couple wet drops of something landed on my cheek and began to burn. It was a wonder I didn't hear a sizzling sound. â€Å"Sydney!† Adrian cried. I turned toward where he was looking and saw Alicia standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. Her palm was raised toward us, a shimmery and gooey substance cupped in it. Presumably it was the same substance that currently seared my skin. I almost wiped it away but feared I'd simply be spreading it to my fingers. I winced and tried to ignore it. â€Å"Sydney† said Alicia pleasantly. â€Å"Or should I say Taylor? I figured I'd be seeing you two again. Just not so soon. I guess your car trouble didn't delay you tonight.† â€Å"We know everything,† I told her, keeping on an eye on that goo. â€Å"We know you're working for Veronica.† The smug look on her face momentarily shifted, overcome by surprise. â€Å"Working for her? I got rid of her ages ago.† â€Å"Got rid of. . . .† For a few seconds, I was at a loss. Then the rest of the puzzle pieces fell together. â€Å"You're the one who's been absorbing those girls. And that witch in San Diego. And . . . Veronica Terwilliger.† I'd been able to track Veronica back to the inn with the scrying spell. When Ms. Terwilliger had attempted a different locating spell, she'd come up blank. She'd assumed it was because Veronica had some sort of shielding. But the truth, I was suddenly certain, was that Veronica was already comatose. There was no active mind for Ms. Terwilliger to reach because Alicia had consumed Veronica. Ms. Terwilliger . . . â€Å"You're here for her,† I said. â€Å"Ms. Terwilliger. Not me.† â€Å"The untrained do make easy targets,† conceded Alicia. â€Å"But they don't have the same power as full-fledged witches, who can be just as easy to absorb if you break them down first. I don't need the youth like Veronica did, just the power. Once she showed me how the spell works, I was able to catch her in a weak moment. That other college girl tided me over until I wore down Alana Kale.† Where had I heard that name? Alana . . . she was Ms. Terwilliger's comatose coven sister. â€Å"And finally I can take out the big hit: Jaclyn Terwilliger. I actually wasn't sure if I'd be able to break her, but it turns out she's done an awesome job of wearing herself out these last few weeks, all in the service of protecting her sweet little apprentice.† â€Å"I'm not her . . .† I couldn't finish. I'd been about to say I wasn't her apprentice, and yet . . . wasn't I? I wasn't just dabbling in magic anymore. I had joined the ranks. And now, I had to protect my mentor, just as she'd protected me. If it wasn't too late. â€Å"Where is she?† I demanded. â€Å"She's around,† said Alicia, clearly delighting in having the upper hand here. â€Å"I wish you hadn't found out about all this. You would've made a good hit, once you'd learned a little bit more. You're just a small spark to Jaclyn's flame right now. She's the big score tonight.† â€Å"Tell us where she is,† ordered Adrian, a powerful note in his voice that I recognized. Alicia's gaze flicked from me to him. â€Å"Oh, please,† she scoffed. â€Å"Stop wasting my time with your vampire compulsion. I realized what was going on after that first visit, when I kept having trouble remembering your faces.† From her jumble of necklaces, she showed us a jade circle. â€Å"I acquired this afterward. Makes me impervious to your ‘charms.'† Something that resisted vampire magic? That would be a useful item to have in my bag of tricks. I'd have to look into it . . . provided I survived tonight. I saw Alicia tense to throw again, and I managed to jump out of the way, pulling Adrian with me toward the living room. More of that goo splattered behind us with a hiss. I produced a dried thistle blossom and crumpled it toward Alicia, shouting a Greek incantation that would blind her. She made a small wave with her left hand and sneered at me. â€Å"Really?† she asked. â€Å"That remedial blindness spell? Maybe you aren't a prodigy after all.† Adrian suddenly flipped open a small panel in the wall beside us. I hadn't even noticed it, largely because I'd been too distracted about having my face melted off. I saw a flurry of motion from his hand, and suddenly, we were plunged into darkness. â€Å"Now this is remedial blindness,† he muttered. Alicia swore. I froze, immobilized by the blackness around me. As much as I appreciated any attempts to slow Alicia down, I was kind of at a loss myself. I felt Adrian's hand grab hold of mine, and without a word, he tugged me farther into the living room. I followed quickly, relying on his superior vampire eyesight to guide us. I could already hear Alicia chanting and was sure some light-giving spell was coming soon. Either that or something that would magically fix a fuse box. â€Å"Careful,† Adrian murmured. â€Å"Stairs.† Sure enough, I felt my foot hit a wooden step. He and I hurried down as quietly and as quickly as we could, descending into a basement. My eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and I wondered if I'd just entered some secret dungeon. Yet as he wound us through stacks of boxes, I realized the basement was just used for ordinary storage. There was a lot of junk down here. After seeing Ms. Terwilliger's already messy house, I wondered what more she could possibly own. Adrian finally stopped when we were in a far corner behind some oblong boxes stacked nearly as high as me. He pulled me to him, keeping me in his arms so that he could speak softly in my ear. My head lay against his chest, and I could hear his rapid heartbeat, a mirror for my own. â€Å"That was a good idea,† I said in as low a voice as I could manage. â€Å"But now we're trapped down here. It would've been better if we could go outside.† â€Å"I know,† he whispered back. â€Å"But she was too close to the door, and I didn't have time to mess with a window.† Above us, I could hear the floor creaking as Alicia walked through the house. â€Å"It's just a matter of time,† I said. â€Å"I was hoping it'd give you a chance to think of something to get us out of here. Can't you use that fireball? You were pretty good at it.† â€Å"Not inside. Especially not in a basement. I'd burn this place down around us. And we don't know where Ms. Terwilliger is yet.† I racked my brain. The house was small enough that there weren't that many places Alicia could have stashed Ms. Terwilliger. And I had to assume she was stashed somewhere, if she hadn't come to our aid already. Alicia's language made it sound like she hadn't sucked away Ms. Terwilliger's power yet, so hopefully she was just incapacitated. â€Å"You must be able to do something,† said Adrian, tightening his hold on me. â€Å"You're brilliant, and you've been reading all those spell books.† It was true. I'd consumed tons of material these last couple of months – material I wasn't even supposed to have learned – but somehow, in this one terrified moment, my mind couldn't focus on any of it. â€Å"I've forgotten everything.† â€Å"No, you haven't.† His voice in the darkness was calm and reassuring. He smoothed back my hair and pressed one of those half kisses to my forehead. â€Å"Just relax and focus. Sooner or later, she'll be coming down those stairs after us. We need to take her out or at least slow her down so that we can escape.† His reasonable words centered me and allowed the gears of logic that ran my life to take over again. A little light was coming through from the basement's small, high windows, allowing my eyes to finally adjust and make out some of the dark shapes in the basement. I could still hear Alicia moving around upstairs, so I crept away from Adrian and walked over to the staircase. With a few graceful hand arcs, I chanted a spell over the steps and then hurried back to my corner with Adrian, slipping back under the shelter of his arm. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"I think I've got a minor delay ready.† â€Å"What is it?† he asked. Just then, we heard the door at the top of the stairs open. Light spilled down, though we still remained in the shadows. â€Å"You're out of options,† I heard Alicia say. â€Å"No place left to – ahh!† There was a loud thump-thump-thump-thump as she went sliding down the stairs and hit the bottom with a crack. â€Å"Invisible ice on the stairs,† I told Adrian. â€Å"I know I'm not supposed to say this,† he said. â€Å"But I think I love you more than ever.† I took his hand and tried not to think about how happy his words made me, even in this life-or-death situation. â€Å"Come on.† We left our hiding spot and found Alicia sprawled ungracefully on the floor, trying to get to her feet. A silver orb of light hovered in the air near her, bobbing along faithfully with her movements. Seeing us, she snarled and waved her hands to cast at us. I'd anticipated this and had an amulet ready. I swung it on its silken cord and said a few quick words as we passed her. A brief, shimmering shield flared between us and her, just barely absorbing the small glowing darts she hurled our way. The shield was similar to the one Ms. Terwilliger had used at the park but had to be summoned on the spot and didn't last long. I didn't know what Alicia planned on doing next, but obviously, something bad was coming. I cast a preemptive spell I'd never used before, one of the ones that Ms. Terwilliger had told me not to bother with. It took a lot of energy and was powerful if used correctly, yet was deceptively simple and elegant in its effects. I merely blasted Alicia across the room with a wave of power just as she was about to stand. She flew backward, into a stack of Christmas items. A box of ornaments fell down, shattering near her on the hard floor. Casting the spell left me dizzy, but I managed to keep moving. I summoned a fireball when we reached the stairs but held it in my hand, keeping it low as though I were going to roll a Skee-Ball – though my intent was simply to carry it. I prayed it would melt the ice, and after my first few steps, I knew I was right. â€Å"Careful,† I warned Adrian. â€Å"They're wet.† We made it to the top, but Alicia had already scrambled after us. From the bottom of the stairs, she used the same spell on me that I'd used on her, throwing a wave of invisible energy at Adrian and me that knocked us to the floor. I'd been holding on to the fireball, despite Ms. Terwilliger's warnings about how doing so would drain my own power. When Alicia knocked me down, the fireball flew from my hand and landed on Ms. Terwilliger's couch. Considering it looked as though it was covered in some cheap fabric from the 1970s, I wasn't entirely surprised that it lit up so fast. On the bright side, the fire solved our darkness problem. On the downside, it meant the house was likely going to burn down around us after all. The callistana, who hadn't been fast enough to keep up with us when we'd gone downstairs, came scurrying over to my side. I had only half a heartbeat to make a decision. â€Å"Go look in the rest of the house for Ms. Terwilliger,† I told Adrian. â€Å"I'll stop Alicia.† The growing fire created weird shadows on his face, highlighting his anguish at this. â€Å"Sydney.† â€Å"This is one of those times you have to trust me without question,† I said. â€Å"Hurry! Find her and get her out.† I saw a thousand emotions flash through his eyes before he obeyed and ran off toward the other wing of the house. The fire was spreading rapidly throughout the living room, in a way that had to be magical. The increasing smoke gave me an idea, and I cast a spell that enhanced it, creating a hazy wall at the entrance to the basement stairs. It allowed the dragon and me to make a short retreat before Alicia appeared, parting the smoke as cleanly as though she were opening curtains. â€Å"That,† she declared. â€Å"Hurt.† I cast a spell that should've encased her in spiderwebs, but they fell away before they even reached her. It was infuriating. I'd memorized so much, but these â€Å"remedial† spells weren't working. I understood now why Ms. Terwilliger's main strategy had been for me to lie low and hide my ability. How would I have ever been able to take on Veronica? True, Alicia had taken her out, but only after probably weakening her as she had Ms. Terwilliger. I even understood now why Ms. Terwilliger had told me to get a gun – which, I realized now, I'd left in the car. The ice spell had worked because Alicia hadn't seen it coming. The only other spell that had worked on her was the blast of power, an advanced one that had still left me weak. It was going to take another one of those, I realized. I had no idea if I had the ability to do a second one, but trying was the only chance I had of – I screamed as what felt like a thousand volts of electricity shot through me. Alicia's hand movement had been so subtle, and she hadn't even spoken. I fell down again, writhing in pain as Alicia strode toward me, her face triumphant. The dragon bravely put himself between the two of us, and she simply kicked him aside. I heard him yelp as he skittered across the floor. â€Å"Maybe I should absorb you,† said Alicia. The shocks abated, and I could only sit there and gasp for breath. â€Å"You could be my fifth. I can come back for Jaclyn in a few years. You've turned out to be a lot more powerful than I thought – and annoyingly resourceful. You even made a good effort tonight.† â€Å"Who says I'm done?† I managed to say. I cast the first of the advanced spells that came to mind. Maybe it was inspired by the broken Christmas ornaments, but suddenly, I had broken shards on the brain. The spell required no words or physical components and only the slightest of hand movements. The rest was taken from me – a draining of energy and power that hurt almost as much as the electrifying spell Alicia had just used. But oh, the results were breathtaking. On Ms. Terwilliger's coffee table (which was now on fire) sat a set of five perpetual motion balls. I used a transmutation spell on them, forcing them out of their spherical shape and breaking them apart into thin, sharp razor blades. They broke free of their strings and came at my command. That was the easy part. The hard part was, as Ms. Terwilliger had told me, actually attacking someone. And not just making them slip and fall. That wasn't so bad. But an actual physical attack, one you knew would cause direct and terrible damage, was an entirely different issue. It didn't matter how terrible Alicia was, that she'd tried to kill me and wanted to victimize Ms. Terwilliger and countless others. Alicia was still a living person, and it was not in my nature to show violence or try to take another's life. It was, however, in my nature to save my own life and those of my loved ones. I braced myself and ordered the razors forward. They slammed into her face. She screamed and frantically tried to pull them out but in doing so lost her balance and went back down the stairs. I heard her shriek as she fell into the basement. Although I couldn't see her, her magical lantern orb merrily followed her all the way down. My triumph was short-lived. I was more than dizzy. I was on the verge of passing out. The heat and light from the fire were overwhelming, yet my vision was going dark from the exhaustion of casting a spell I was in no way ready for. I suddenly just wanted to curl up there on the floor and close my eyes where it was comfortable and warm. . . . â€Å"Sydney!† Adrian's voice jolted me out of my haze, and I managed to peer up at him through heavy eyelids. He slipped an arm around me to help me up. When my legs didn't work, he simply scooped me up altogether and carried me. The dragon, who'd suffered no permanent damage from the kick, clung to my shirt and scurried into the bag that was still draped over my shoulder. â€Å"Where . . . Ms. Terwilliger. . . .† â€Å"Not here,† Adrian said, heading swiftly toward the front door. The fire was spreading over the walls and ceiling now. Although it hadn't quite made it to the front of the house yet, our way was still thick with smoke and ash. We both were coughing, and tears ran out of my eyes. Adrian reached the door and turn the knob, yelping at how hot it was. Then he managed to kick the door open with his foot, and we were free, out into the clean night air. Neighbors had gathered outside, and I could hear sirens in the distance. Some of the spectators watched us curiously, but most were transfixed by the inferno that was Ms. Terwilliger's bungalow. Adrian carried me over to his car and gently set me down so that I could lean against it, though he still kept an arm around me. We both stared in awe at the fire. â€Å"I really did look, Sydney,† he said. â€Å"I couldn't find Jackie in the house. Maybe she escaped.† I prayed he was right. Otherwise, we had just abandoned my history teacher to a fiery death. â€Å"What happened to Alicia?† â€Å"Last I saw, she was in the basement.† A sickening feeling twisted in my stomach. â€Å"I don't know if she'll get out. Adrian, what have I just done?† â€Å"You defended yourself. And me. And hopefully Jackie.† His arm tightened around me. â€Å"Alicia was evil. Look what she did to those other witches – what she wanted to do to you guys.† â€Å"I never saw it coming,† I said bleakly. â€Å"I thought I was so smart. And each time I talked to her, I dismissed her as some dumb, scattered girl. Meanwhile, she was laughing and countering my moves every step of the way. It's humbling. I don't meet many people like that.† â€Å"The Moriarty to your Holmes?† he suggested. â€Å"Adrian,† I said. It was all I needed to say. He suddenly did a double take, noticing my attire for the first time tonight now that the jacket had come open. â€Å"You're wearing your AYE shirt?† â€Å"Yeah, I never wage magical battles without – â€Å" A small mewling noise suddenly caught my attention. I searched around until I spotted two green eyes peering at me from under a bush across the street. I managed to straighten up and found that my legs, though weak, could support my weight again. I took a few halting steps toward the bush, and Adrian immediately ran to my side. â€Å"What are you doing? You need help,† he said. I pointed. â€Å"We have to follow that cat.† â€Å"Sydney – â€Å" â€Å"Help me,† I pleaded. He couldn't resist. Supporting me with his arm again, he helped me walk across the street toward the cat. It ran ahead between two bushes, then glanced back at us. â€Å"It wants us to follow,† I told him. So we did, cutting through houses and streets until when we were about four blocks from the bungalow, the cat dashed off into a park. Whatever energy I'd had when I started after the cat was long gone. I was panting and dizzy again and fighting hard to resist asking Adrian to carry me. Something in the center of the park caught my attention and gave me one last burst of adrenaline to run forward. There, lying on the grass, was Ms. Terwilliger. She was awake, thankfully, but looked nearly as exhausted as I felt. Tears and smudges suggested she'd been through quite an ordeal. She had managed to escape Alicia, but not without a fight. That was why we hadn't been able to find her in the house. Seeing me, she blinked in surprise. â€Å"You're okay,† she said. â€Å"And you found me.† â€Å"The cats led us,† I said, pointing. All thirteen of them were sitting around in the park, surrounding their owner – making sure she was okay. She glanced around at them and managed a weary smile. â€Å"See? I told you cats are useful.† â€Å"Callistanas aren't so bad either,† I said, looking down at my satchel. â€Å"That ‘pain in the ass' screeching saved me from a face full of acid.† Adrian put his hand to his heart in mock horror. â€Å"Sage, did you just swear?† Glancing over, Ms. Terwilliger noticed him for the first time. â€Å"And you're here too? I'm so sorry you had to get dragged into this mess. I know you didn't ask for any of this trouble.† â€Å"It doesn't matter,† said Adrian, smiling. He rested a hand on my shoulder. â€Å"Some things are worth the trouble.†