Free The Haunting of Grey Cliffs by Nina Coombs Pykare

He took one look at me and started yipping. Ned quieted him. "It's all right, Captain. Hester belongs here."
    I swallowed hastily over the lump that had risen in my throat. That was good! The boy was already on his way to accepting me.
    The dog came to me then, sniffing my skirts. I knelt and looked into his deep brown eyes. "Hello, Captain," I said softly, stretching out a tentative hand. The dog sniffed it, too, finally gave it a lick, and turned back to the boy.
    "He likes you," Ned said, his hand resting possessively on the dog's head. "He only licks people he likes."
    "That's right," said the twins.
    Hiding my satisfaction, I got to my feet. "Now, where shall we start?"
    * * * *
    An hour later we were back in the nursery. We had found no secret passageways, no priest hole, but what we had found was more important—a common ground where we could meet and get to know each other.
    Certainly Ned and the twins were still not friends, but at least they were able to speak to each other with some civility.
    We gathered around the table then and Ned read to me. When I told him to pass the book to Peter, the boy shook his head. "Can't," he said.
    "Now, Peter, come. Give it a try."
    Peter and Paul exchanged some unintelligible words, then Peter turned to me. "Can't neither of us read nor write."
    "Oh." How stupid of me to have forgotten the twins' origin. "Well," I said, "we'll fix that."
    Paul stared at me. "Don't need to read. Gonna work the fields."
    "Of course you need to read," I said firmly.
    Peter raised an eyebrow, blue eyes very like his father's boring into mine. "Why?"
    Why indeed? I thought. Given Robert's  attitude they were lucky to have a roof over their heads, food to eat, and clothes to wear. An education was quite a luxury.
    Still I persisted. These children were in my charge and while I was responsible for them, they would learn. "Because reading and writing will help you—"
    "Don't see how," Peter interrupted.
    I hesitated, trying to think of some good reply. But while I sought in my mind for some acceptable reason they would understand, the door opened.
    "Hello," Robert said, giving me a practiced smile. "The chatelaine at work. You make a pretty picture."
    I stiffened, his compliment making me uneasy. I disliked his rakish attitude and I meant to stand for none of that behavior in front of the children.
    When he got no response from me, Robert turned to Ned. "What are you studying today?"
    The boy smiled. 'This morning we looked for secret passageways. Hester got Father to let Captain back into the nursery. And now we're reading." Ned looked at the twins. "Only they can't."
    Robert frowned. "Can't read, is it? As I remember, it's rather a tough job at first." He crossed the room to lean over, his face close to mine. "What seems to be the problem?"
    'There is no problem," I replied, leaning in the other direction, away from him. Why must the man get so close to me? ''The twins have had no lessons, so naturally they can't  read."
    "They said they won't need it," Ned volunteered. "Wish I didn't have to learn."
    Robert frowned. "Of course you have to learn. You're a gentleman's son."
    I couldn't believe the man's calloused disregard for his own children. The poor things had already suffered enough, probably been called all kinds of ugly names by the village children. And now—now their father was ignoring them, acting like they were invisible. And to add insult to injury, he was making up to Ned.
    "Reading and writing are useful accomplishments for any person," I said firmly. "They will be useful to the twins."
    For the first time, Robert turned his attention to his sons. The twins stared back at him, their expressions wary. When they exchanged remarks in their private language, I could not understand the sense of them, but I knew by the inflection that one questioned the other. Were they discussing their father?
    "So, Peter, Paul," Robert said, his eyes narrowing. "Do you know who I am?"
    Paul's face grew