Read Online Royal Ransom by Eric Walters - Free Book Online

of flickering ash rose skyward.
    â€œYou are very fortunate to live in such a place,” she said.
    â€œI hadn’t really thought much about it until this last year.”
    She gave me a questioning look.
    â€œI was away at school,” I explained.
    â€œThere is no school in your village?”
    â€œThere is for the little kids, but once you hit grade seven you have to head south if you want to keep going.”
    â€œYou went to Edmonton?”
    â€œI didn’t say way down south. Just to Fort McMurray. That’s about a two-hour flight from here.”
    â€œAnd did your father fly you in every day?”
    â€œI wish. I lived down there. There are dormitories. It’s a residential school.”
    â€œDid you come home for weekends?”
    â€œI did sometimes because my father could fly me in, but for most kids it’s often months before they get to go home. Some can’t even go home for Christmas.”
    â€œThat is so unfortunate, but I imagine there is no alternative.”
    I shrugged. “Some kids just quit school.”
    â€œYou mean they don’t finish the higher forms?”
    â€œDo you mean grades?”
    She nodded.
    â€œSome drop out partway through grade seven. They just go home and don’t come back.”
    There were times I’d been tempted myself—to stay home and forget about school, pick up work in the village like some kids did and never leave. But my family would have killed me! And anyway, I had other plans. Big plans.
    â€œBut surely they must realize that their education is essential to pursue higher learning and professional status.”
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    She didn’t answer right away. “To go to university and get a good job, you need to go to school.”
    â€œUniversity isn’t for everybody, and lots of jobs don’t take much schooling. Ray’s only got grade seven and he has a pretty good business. Trappers don’t need any education. My mother’s only got grade ten and her art sells really well.”
    â€œI was not intending to slight anybody,” she said.
    â€œYou just don’t know how hard it is to be away from your family like that,” I said.
    â€œI do know.”
    â€œI don’t mean like on a vacation for a few days.”
    â€œI know exactly what you mean,” she said. “I also attend a residential school.”
    â€œYou?”
    â€œFor the past three school years, since I was ten years old.”
    â€œBut you live in a city. There must be schools around.”
    â€œMany. Dozens. Perhaps hundreds.”
    â€œSo why don’t you go to one of those?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s tradition.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œMy mother and my grandmother and her mother before that all attended the same institution.”
    â€œInstitution? I thought we were talking about schools.”
    She laughed. “Apparently they’re the same thing.”
    â€œAnd what about your brother?”
    â€œHe will be leaving home for the first time this fall.”
    â€œAt least you’ll have some family around then,” I said.
    â€œMy school is exclusively a girls’ school, and he’ll be attending a boys’ academy in Scotland.”
    â€œIs your school in Scotland?”
    â€œEngland.”
    â€œSo you two won’t even be in the same country ?”
    She smiled. “Now that you have become acquainted with my brother, you can surely appreciate the benefits of that arrangement.”
    We both laughed.
    â€œYou are going to continue your education, aren’t you?”
    â€œI don’t have a choice. I want to be a pilot.”
    â€œLike your father.”
    â€œExactly. How about you? What do you want to be when you… ?” I let the sentence trail off as I suddenly realized who I was talking to. “I guess you’ll be a queen.”
    â€œActually, I’ll still be a princess. The crown