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To add to the challenge, Lily found herself in the position of teaching subjects she hadn’t thought of in years She had once cursed her high school Latin teacher but now found she was thankful that cruel old Mr Crabtree had been so h She had no idea that all of those tedious Latin declensions were still in her brain after all those years Geography, too, was a tough one Not only did she have to familiarize herself hat countries here in the seventeenth-century world, Lily also had to interpret the ornate and barely legible script that detailed Ewen ’s various globes and tattered nautical maps

Aside from the obvious differences she would expect, like the roles of women, class structure, and so on, Lily was startled daily at the treulf between the world she had experienced as a child and John ’s reality She clung to those differences in atteht that this youngster, still shy of his eleventh birthday, would likely be sent to battle in the next five years sobered Lily and renewed her lagging reserves of patience She wanted to do right by hi as she was trapped where she was, she would put her all into his schooling Regardless of the fact that his wicked behavior had her fantasizing about taking a good old seventeenth- century switch to his rear end

She announced her intentions to the boy that ured that even if the laird found so the Cameron keep, he wouldn ’t have the chance to voice it

"John?" Lily inquired in a sweet but fir herself to an even tes She could feel her patience wearing thin already

Kat entered the dining room with a fresh pot of tea She looked at the two of the across froave Lily a sy bolstered, Lily set her shoulders and tried again

"John"

Pretending not to hear her, the boy le of toast

Telling herself that being a governess was not a de lessons today "

That got his attention Lily continued, "Instead, you will show e life outside this castle "

She had awoken that sunny ood A day spent walking through the village just outside the keep, which she learned was known as Tor Castle, ht be a pleasant way to make some inroads with the boy and expend a bit of his abundant youthful energy to boot Besides, it would give her a chance to scope out the lay of the land and ive some clue as to the location of the labyrinth The days were flying by, and Ewen still hadn’t tracked down this

Gorm-whatever-her-name-itch whoht fa countryside probably wouldn’t help, but it couldn’t hurt either

"My da won’t like ravely, as if to inspire fear of the dark laird in the heart of his governess Lily was having none of it

The great laird Caht He wasn’t the one who had to deal with this monstrous boy day in and day out

Kat diffused the situation "Oh lad, you’re just being contrarian You’ll not tell et out into the fresh air for the day Aye, and you can point out the glen’s plants and ani isn’t wasted"

It was the ave her an eternally grateful look "She ’s right, John Today is about learning Just not sums and Latin Today ill study the flora and fauna of the surrounding environment "

John looked pained

"I’ to e the tense situation, "but I do ken that Glen Albyn is the lens Aye, with lochs all around and Ben Nevis looking down on the lot of us " The maid beamed and Lily realized how lovely shethe castle becaive me but a moment and I ’ll pack some food for the pair of you explorers today "

John seeized by the prospect of spending the day roa his chair out from the table with a loud screech, he raced out of the roo a coat

"Thank you," Lily sighed

"For what lass? Don’t be troubled by the lad He ’s the ieese don’t lay tas Hellfire, our Lochiel was as a mite And could charm the horns off the devil to boot But mind you, the laird is a soft one deep down, and the son is no different " Lily couldn ’t i to Soft and Eere tords that she would never think to use in the sa tree branches, and racing to and fro on the road Lily enjoyed the opportunity to really take in the sights around her She had only been outside the keep once, and, as she had been frantically trying to flee in the night, she hadn’t really noted h, she found herself utterly chare, yet the warmth and broad smiles of the people she encountered on the roadwith life

The air eet, like rich earth and heather, and the contrast between the crisp breeze on her cheeks and uncharacteristically wares dotted the countryside They looked to be no larger than one-roo out from thickly applied mortar, cheered by squat wooden doors painted in shades of yellow, red, or green Lazy plumes of dark peat s over the thatched roofs