CHAPTER 23
“I trust you will be taking over the school now that you are back?” Aaron Donnelly asked them a few days later.
Neither had understood why they were being summoned to the dragon council’s chambers, and they felt deeply uncomfortable about it. The last time Kergot had been before the council, it had not turned out so well. Looking around, he could see that many of the members that had done Aiden’s bidding were no longer present.
“I don’t know what we had planned upon our return. The school appears to have been closed for many years now in our absence.”
“Yes, Aiden had insisted it stay closed and the children have home or church tutors instead. It has been bad for them and greatly affected their ability to develop proper social skills.
“We are but two people. I don’t think we can teach the entire village. It has grown considerably.”
“I don’t expect you to teach the masses. I’d like for you to become the administrators of the school. You’ll be afforded a proper budget that affords for the necessary teachers, upgrades, and supplies needed to get it back up to speed.”
“That is not a small number,” Kergot cautioned.
“Yes, I know it is not, but we have the finances to manage it. We have to, for the sake of our children.”
“Very well then, we accept the challenge, I guess,” Kergot said, turning to Penelope to see if she was in agreement. She nodded and tightened her grip on his hand.
“Very well. I’ll have a team from the council and accounting offices sit down with you once you’ve had a chance to go in and take a proper inventory and access your needs. Just contact Thomas Higgins to set up a date when you are ready.”
“We will do that.”
“The sooner, the better,” Aaron added.
“Of course,” Kergot told him.
They were dismissed by the council and given the keys by a young lady in the outer corridor. Rather than waste any time, they went directly over to the building and unlocked it, stepping inside tentatively as the doors creaked open in front of them.
“Wow, would you look at this place?” Kergot remarked, taking in how dirty and dusty it had become over the years.
“We’re going to need a large budget just to hire cleaners to get this place scrubbed up again,” Penelope groaned.
“Certainly will. There’s a layer of dust in here thicker than your hair,” he laughed.
“No telling what is crawling about either. Might as well call someone to fumigate it first,” she added, nodding at a few disgusting creatures scurrying down the hallway nearby.
They continued to walk through and give all the classrooms and offices a once over. Some things would need updating, but nothing serious. The bulk of finances would be spent on supplies and books it seemed. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. They could work on hiring teachers while books were on order and updates were being done, perhaps start at the normal time come fall.
“I think we’ve seen all we need to here. Let’s go home and do some research on current textbooks and see how many of our old teachers might be available to come back before we worry with hiring new ones,” Penelope said.
“My thoughts exactly,” he replied.
“I know,” she laughed.
Though his was the only mind she could read, and even that wasn’t always, it did amuse her sometimes that she could do so. She wondered what it was like to have the full gift of his abilities. What he must go through with knowing everyone’s dark secrets or even such innocent things as just thoughts they rather keep to themselves.
“No, you don’t really,” he remarked, smiling at her.
“What am I thinking now?” she teased.
“You are thinking that you can’t wait to get me back home and have your way with me.”
“Not even close.”
“I know, but it sounded better than telling you that you are thinking about a slice of Cassi’s pie.”
“Funny. Now, how about that pie? I’ll need fuel for all this thinking we’ve got to do back at home.”
“Pie it is then. We’ll stop off on the way back.”
“Perfect.”
Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the diner across from Cassi and a young lady she introduced to them as Kara, who worked for her.
“So, you are planning on opening the school again? That will be brilliant. Everyone is going to be so pleased,” she told them as they sat eating warm slices of blueberry pie with a scoop of ice cream on the side.
“Everyone but the students,” Kergot laughed.
“I wouldn’t bet on it. They’ve grown tired of being taught at home by their parents or members of their parish. Most of them will be thrilled to get into a school and have a real school experience again. Plus, the ones that have graduated since it closed have had such a hard time proving their educational background if they chose to go to college. It’s been a real nightmare for them.”
“I’m glad to see this village is getting back on track. Oh, I see that Owen McCord has a baby now. A little girl.”
“Ah, yes. Dawn. She is a spectacular, little thing. Some people have an issue with her being half human, but hopefully the people around here will get past that, begin to recognize some of our old ways for what they are–obsolete. It will be nice to not be so far behind the times anymore.”
“I just hope we don’t let anyone down. It’s a lot to get a school up and running from nothing again.”
“Yes, but Aaron couldn’t have asked two better people to do it. That school ran like a top before, and it will again. All of the students there received a top notch education until they were shut out and forced into their own homes to learn.”
“I guess time will tell what we can make of the situation,” Penelope told her.
“I suppose it will. I have very good feelings about it,” Cassi replied. “Now, if you will excuse me. I need to go make the rounds through my guests.”
“Of course.”
Kergot watched as she made her way toward a booth where a young man sat chatting with Kara. Cassi sat down across from him and spoke to him in whispers and then walked away, leaving him alone with Kara again.
“Who is that?” Penelope asked. Didn’t I see him in the council chambers earlier?”
“Yes. That is Thomas Higgins. He will be the one that works on our budget with us.”
“Ah, okay. I wonder what he and Cassi were whispering about?” she said.
“I’m not sure. I couldn’t quite make out the thoughts. They were jumbled from both of them. There is something afoot, but I don’t know exactly what it is.”
“Interesting. Are you ready to go?” Penelope asked him.
“Yes, I think I’m all full of pie and happiness now.”
“Good. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“It will be child’s play after the years on the docks.”
“I imagine it will be,” she said thoughtfully.
She admired how hard he had worked to make sure they were well cared for while they were in France. There was simply not a woman in the world as lucky as her. Not a doubt was in her mind that she had not met the man of her dreams the day he had saved her and taken her to his cave to take care of her.
“Let’s go home and make some lists, my love.”
Pene gathered her handbag and slipped out of the booth in which they sat. She had not a care in the world as they walked back home and settled in around their dining room table with tablets in hand and note paper in front of them.
“Let the games begin!” Kergot chirped.
“Lock and load,” Penelope laughed.