Read Online The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox - Free Book Online

Ame said, grumpy. “Want to stay here.”
    â€œWe’ve got no choice.”
    Kat tried combing out their hair—Amelie had terribleknots and cried out more than once, and Kat finally gave up, saying, “That will have to do.”
    They rushed down the great stairs into the central hallway and turned left, and—“No! It’s right. Sorry, Ame”—Marie calling them along, so Kat followed the sound of her voice until they finally reached the dining hall.
    Now fires roared in both fireplaces. Light streamed in from the high windows; the sun had come out from behind the clouds while they napped. The table was spread again for a feast. Everyone stood at their places at the table, including Peter and Rob and three other children, two boys and a girl. It was clear that they’d all been waiting for Kat and Amelie, and they glared at them as they stumbled in. Rob and Peter wore their uniforms, and Kat tried brushing her messy hair back from her face, feeling the blush of embarrassment.
    At the head of the high table, raised above the table where the children waited, stood the Lady Eleanor, and standing next to her was a man. Kat thought he had to be Lord Craig, though he didn’t look ill in the least.
    Kat dragged Amelie as fast as they could move until they stood before the Lady, and then Kat dropped into a curtsey; Amelie copied her, mumbling annoyance. “Sorry, my Lady,” Kat panted.
    The Lady Eleanor lifted her chin. Her white-blonde hair was swept into a side chignon, and she was dressed to thenines. She wore the kind of gown that wouldn’t keep anyone warm unless they lived in the equatorial regions, where bare arms covered only by black above-elbow gloves would be a relief. Her dress was shimmery, full-length, body-hugging, although she wore an elaborate belt from which hung a Scottish sporran made of leather and a scarf in the Craig tartan. All the male eyes in the room were on the Lady. Kat would’ve liked to kick Peter in the shins. Robbie was almost drooling.
    â€œYou will dress in uniforms for every occasion,” the Lady said, her voice cold even as she gave them a thin smile. “We eat before sunset here. You will not be late again.”
    â€œNo, ma’am.” She curtseyed again, this time to the man. “Good evening, my Lord.”
    At that, the man burst into mocking laughter.
    Kat stiffened, first at the sound of that laugh, and then at the looks she—and the man—received from the Lady.
    â€œâ€˜My Lord’!” the man said, sputtering with laughter. “She called me ‘my Lord’!”
    â€œYes, well, she is an ignorant girl,” the Lady said, loud enough for Kat to hear.
    Kat’s hand tightened on Amelie’s.
    â€œYou can call me Sir,” the man said with a narrow-eyed grin, “but I’m no proper lord.”
    The Lady turned cold eyes on Kat. “This is not my lord husband,” she said. Her teeth gleamed in a smile that didn’treach her eyes. “This is Mr. Storm, one of your instructors. Now that you’ve all arrived, and the other teachers arrive tomorrow, lessons shall begin.”
    â€œAbout bloody time for something interesting to begin,” murmured the boy standing a few feet behind Kat. “Been a bloody bore here so far. That bugger had us locked in study hall all day, he did, while he was off someplace.”
    That “bugger” Mr. Storm held the Lady’s chair for her and swept his hand for her to sit, and the Lady gave him a look that would freeze a polar bear, though he either didn’t see or didn’t care. When he pulled his chair out to sit, Kat heard the scraping of the chairs behind her and she tugged Amelie to the two empty places at the table, while stealing another look at Mr. Storm.
    Instructors come in all shapes and sizes, but Mr. Storm didn’t fit Kat’s idea of an instructor. To be honest, he hadn’t fit her idea of a