Free Steam & Sorcery by Cindy Spencer Pape

to know where each of you is starting out, so I can begin to plan your lessons—though Tommy, I believe you’re to have a proper tutor.”
    “Aye.” The boy nodded, then winced. Another kick from Wink? “I mean, yes, miss.”
    “I can read.” Piers spoke up shyly. “Wink taught me while I was sick. Used to fix machines to get books for me, and medicine.”
    Wink shrugged. “People pay me to fix up their clockwork and boilers. Sometimes they’d give me a book to go with the blunt.”
    Caroline filed away that tidbit of information. “Wink, did you build the dog—George, you said his name was? He’s quite lifelike. You must really have a talent with machines.”
    “Yes, miss. Well—not his outsides. I found those in a dump and built him new insides.”
    “I’m impressed.” She was. Anyone who could make machines work had her admiration. “Jamie, please don’t reach across the table for the salt. Ask someone to pass it to you.”
    “Sorry, miss.” The boy twitched restlessly as the footman removed the soup plates and the maids laid a main course of roasted chicken with carrots, peas and potatoes.
    The children fell on the meal like a starving horde. The scents were heavenly, and it was all Caroline could manage not to do the same. “I believe that tomorrow morning I shall spend a little time with each of you, going over things like reading, writing, mathematics and geography, just to assess where you’ll need to begin your lessons. After luncheon, I prefer to take a walk in the park, if that is acceptable. Then in the afternoon, we shall get down to business. After teatime, there will be an hour or so of playtime, followed by some shared reading. Any questions?”
    “Do we have to work every day?” Jamie’s lower lip jutted out and trembled. “You said you’d play with us.”
    “And I shall.” Caroline smiled. “There will be some time for play every afternoon. We’ll take Sundays off completely, and we’ll try to set one day a week aside for an educational outing of some sort. Thursdays will be half-days, with the afternoons free, at least for now.”
    Mary, one of the maids, rolled her eyes and muttered something about asking for Thursdays off.
    Which is when Piers used his spoon to shoot a pea at the maid.
    Pandemonium erupted. Clearly, twenty minutes was the maximum length of time for this brood to behave.
    Mary shrieked, was hit in the mouth by a gob of potatoes, then ran from the room in tears. Caroline didn’t see the culprit in that case, but the angle suggested Wink.
    Jamie knocked over his milk in the process of punching Piers, who retaliated with a barrage of multiple peas at Jamie, then another at Nell.
    Mashed potatoes appeared on Piers’s face, then on Tommy’s. His elbow knocked Wink’s plate to the floor, and she dumped her glass of milk into his lap.
    “Enough.” Caroline rapped her spoon on her water glass to cut through the chaos, and the children went silent. “That will be quite enough of that. ” Caroline stood and glowered at each of them in turn. “Clearly, everyone is finished with their meal.” She turned to Johnson, the footman. “Can you please remove the rest of the food? Including any sweets. They shan’t be needed.”
    “Yes, miss.” With a crisp nod, the footman and Sally, the remaining maid, began to gather the scattered components of the meal, ignoring the wails of protest from the two younger boys.
    Caroline stood and surveyed the children with a stern look. “Now, each of you children shall retire to your bedrooms, change out of any soiled clothing, wash your faces and hands, and then meet me in the nursery in ten minutes. Understood?”
    “Yes, miss.” Wink hung her head.
    The others just nodded and filed toward the door.
    “Piers, would you remain here a moment? And Tommy, please assist Jamie if he needs it.” While her words remained polite, her tone was as icy as she could manage.
    Tommy followed Jamie out the door while Piers returned to