According to the Annals, Mildred had the curious habit of appearing just as the coffee was ready.
Sister Potato insisted it was pure coincidence.
Sister Piety was never entirely convinced.
According to the Annals, Mildred assured everyone that she only needed to verify one small reference.
Three hours later, the table had disappeared beneath a mountain of parchments, four new indexes and a stack of notes written in surprisingly neat handwriting.
Aurelius tried to ask whether it would take much longer.
Without looking up from the papers, Mildred replied:
—“Now I’ve almost got it.”
The records indicate that this exact phrase was repeated seventeen times that same afternoon.
They say Agnès can find a document that everyone else has given up for lost.
No one quite knows how she does it.
All you have to do is leave her alone for a while among shelves, boxes and parchments.
An hour later, she will return with the paper you were looking for…
…and three more documents you didn’t even know existed.
For years, Aurelius has suspected that Agnès has a secret pact with the archives.
Agnès always gives the same answer:
—“It was just slightly misfiled.”
The Incident of the Boeing with Self-Esteem
According to the Annals, Potoxof was asked to produce a “barely visible” aircraft.
The entity interpreted aeronautical modesty as optional.
Minutes later, an aircraft appeared, large enough to eclipse half the continent.
The records do not specify why the airport was called Turmeric Hollow. Whenever anyone asked, Sister Potato would usually reply:
—“Because the name was already there before us.”
Aurelius spent seven years trying to investigate its origins.
Sister Piety never told him she knew.
Aurelius
Official Chronicler of The Attic.
Gregorius
Assistant to the Official Chronicler of The Attic.
Sister Potato
Head of Popular Wisdom.
Sister Piety
Head of Completely Unnecessary Observations.
Mildred
General Archivist, Secretary of Everything and Official Locator of Lost Papers.
Agnès
Guardian of Words and Official Translator of The Attic.
Mother Patience
Superior of the Convent.
Responsible for maintaining an appearance of normality while the rest of the staff strive, day after day, to prove that it is an impossible mission.
Sister Chastity
Head of Institutional Innocence.
Asks perfectly innocent questions that provoke very long silences, especially when Sor Patata and Sor Pietat are present.
Any incidents involving Potoxof will be dealt with in order of arrival.
