The Inscription Read Online Free PDF Page B

Gavin, and the tutor, Bartholomew. Perhaps his brother had emptied Una’s pantry to feed the wolfhounds again. Whatever the reason, he was grateful she had been detained.
    “Where is it that you go?” He bellowed out the words and Amber, Gavin and Bartholomew turned toward him.
    Amber put her hands on her hips. “Are you in charge here?”
    “Aye. But you have not answered my question.”
    “You people have taken this reenactment business a little too far. I saw this man beating this boy.”
    Bartholomew, wielding a sapling branch like a sword, walked around Amber. “Your brother refuses to concentrate on his lessons. He will learn along with the rest of the boys of the parish, or feel the sting of laziness.”
    “Will reading help me fight the Campbells when they raid our cattle?” Gavin turned to Lachlan. “I hate to read.”
    Amber’s nod was emphatic. “Of course you do. I would too if I was beaten into submission.”
    It was quieter in the castle’s henhouse. Lachlan held up his hand to stop their flow of words. “Enough.”
    Her voice was clear and strong. “I saw this man from the upstairs window. He was hitting your brother with a stick.”
    “Laird MacAlpin, who is this woman that she questions my authority over Gavin? I was taught by the Benedictine Monks and recommended to you by Queen Mary.”
    Lachlan was losing patience. “This is the Lady Amber. And I shall see to the confusion.” He turned toward her. “You should not concern yourself in this matter.”
    “Excuse me?”
    Bartholomew tapped the switch against the palm of his hand and cleared his throat. “Women are meddlesome creatures. It would be best to leave Gavin’s education to those who can understand its importance.”
    Amber’s face flushed with anger. “That does it, you pompous sack of wind. Where did you get your teaching credentials? Through the mail?” She put her arm around Gavin’s shoulder.
    The boy sucked in a breath of air and his lips whitened as he reached up to push away Amber’s hand.
    She leaned down. “I’m sorry. I forgot you were hurt. My name’s Amber. May I call you Gavin?” When the boy did not respond she continued. “Education is important, but there are many different ways to learn.”
    The tutor laughed. “Nonsense and fairy smoke. My methods are never questioned in Edinburgh. There is only one way to teach a child and that is with a steady hand.” The switch whistled through the still air.
    Gavin flinched.
    “Does your teacher hit you often?” Amber asked.
    Gavin shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose I deserve it.”
    She straightened and gazed squarely at Lachlan. “You can’t agree with Bartholomew. He doesn’t care about your brother. If he did, he’d be patient.”
    “Gavin lacks not for the tending he needs. It is his mind that has been neglected, not his heart.”
    “What does his mother say about these teaching methods?”
    Lachlan looked at Gavin and then back at Amber.
    “Our mother is no longer able to shoulder the responsibility.”
    The look in her eyes became more determined. “Then you condone Bartholomew’s treatment?”
    His frustration built on the earlier impatience until he felt smothered. He had searched for a proper schoolmaster for Gavin and still felt he had not erred in his selection. “I am satisfied with the boy’s progress.”
    “When it comes to a student, I usually have a lot to say.” Amber’s hands trembled as she lifted Gavin’s shirt Dried blood crisscrossed the boy’s back. She lowered the shirt and faced Lachlan again. “You are patient with that dog you call MacDougal, doesn’t your brother deserve the same treatment?”
    Lachlan felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. Only a coward would strike a child. He saw her reach down and hold Gavin’s hand. His brother looked back at her. The fear had fled the boy’s eyes. She barely reached Lachlan’s chest, yet she was openly defying both him and Bartholomew.
    He had failed Gavin. His own