Last Summer in Louisbourg Read Online Free PDF

why?”
    â€œBecause we’ve got lice!” squealed Justine.
    â€œThe bonnet,” explained Jackie, “was supposed to keep the lice at home, if you see what I mean. Thank goodness we have ways to get rid of them nowadays. Apparently everybody had them back then.”
    Voices and footsteps signalled the arrival of more people. A small boy and girl scrambled noisily into the locker room, followed by their mother.
    â€œGood morning, Brittany. Good morning, Scott,” Jackie greeted the children.
    â€œSorry we’re a bit late,” the mother apologized.
    â€œWe coulda got here faster, but Scott wouldn’t eat his cereal,” grumbled Brittany, who had blonde pigtails and looked about eight years old.
    â€œI did so eat my cereal,” protested her younger brother loudly.
    â€œNo quarrelling,” their mother ordered.
    â€œChildren, I want you to meet Andrea. She’s going to be working with you,” said Jackie.
    â€œSay hello,” urged their mother.
    â€œH’lo,” they mumbled, glancing briefly at Andrea.
    Andrea shook their hands and tried to look serious about her new responsibilities. The job she shared with Justine was the supervision of these, and other, children. Every day twelve youngsters helped to recreate life as it had been lived in 1744 in the Fortress of Louisbourg. They ranged in age from five to twelve and were members of a corps of junior volunteers who lived in nearby communities. Although they only “performed” during the summer months when the fortress was open to the public, they met regularly throughout the winter with instructors who taught them the children’s games, music, dances, and handicrafts of eighteenth-century France.
    Andrea and Justine were there to help them get into their costumes, to supervise games and lunches and snack times, to make sure they wore their capes on rainy days, and to keep track of the musical instruments they played, as well as the handmade dolls and the partly finished embroidery. Things had to keep running on time, whether it was the daily performance of a folk dance or being dispatched home on the bus at the end of the day.
    The little girls wore costumes almost the same as those worn by Andrea and Justine. The boys wore white shirts with baggy pants, rigid wooden shoes, and black tricorn hats. Even the littlest boys had to wear those preposterous hats. Andrea wondered if she was going to have trouble persuading them to keep their hats on.
    â€œIt’s the little kids who really bring this place to life,” Jackie declared, as several more of them arrived. “I know you’re going to enjoy working with them, Andrea, but since this is your first day here I suggest you take a look around and become familiar with your new surroundings. Justine can show you about. I’ll keep an eye on the youngsters for now.”
    Nothing could have pleased Andrea more. Jackie was turning out to be a pal—one of those people who sensed what you needed before you got up your nerve to ask. Andrea put on her idiotic bonnet and buttoned her baby-doll shoes. The two girls quickly left the building and hurried out through the secret door in the fence.

Chapter Five
    By the time they reached the centre of the town, the first busload of visitors had arrived. Andrea barely noticed them. She was absorbed by the atmosphere of this ancient town with its walled gardens, beckoning doorways, and quaint dormer windows. Except for the tourists in their modern summer clothes, she really did feel as if she had stepped back into another age. It took a while for her to realize that the tourists were staring at her as well as at the buildings. Of course. She and Justine were as otherworldly in appearance as the make-believe soldiers at the gate. At first she felt self-conscious. A young couple with a baby in a stroller paused to look her over. A pair of grey-haired women grinned at her and snapped a photograph. What