[Tevildo]

Camille tramped out of the Dragon and cut across the back courtyard of the Inn, heading for the path that led down to The Water. She carried a large bag with Master Falco's dirty clothing that her mum had promised to launder and then return to the Inn.

Despite all the good things that had happened to her that day, Camille was not feeling happy at the moment. Something inside whispered that Cook was right to speak sternly to her. She would be in a big pickle if Cook or anyone else gave her a list of items to purchase at the market and then wrote down how much she was supposed to spend on each. She would have no idea what was on the list or how much money everything should cost. And if Cook ever told her to get down the large book of recipes that was stored in the larder and pick one of those to prepare, she would be in an equally difficult quandry. Perhaps a nearby friend would help her muddle through, but it was more likely that she would be on her own and would fail miserably at the task that she was supposed to do.

Still, Camille pondered, wanting to learn to read and actually managing to do it were two very different things. Maybe she did want to learn, at least a little. But when she looked at a page of letters, everything seemed to swim up and down, and she had trouble remembering her 'b's' from 'd's' since they all looked the same. When the letters were actually strung together in words, things got even worse. And no one, not Cook or her mother, seemed to understand or appreciate that.

Camille thought how disappointed Miz Bella would be to discover that the lass she had hired was singularly dense, although perhaps not as disappointed as her own mother when she learned what a terrible student her daughter was. Camille hesitated for a moment beside the gate, turning around to glance back at the Inn and wondering what she should do. For an instant, she actually thought of running away and going somewhere where no one expected anyone to learn to read, somewhere where there was no Miz Bella. But that would be cowardly, and she was not a coward. With a sigh of resignation, Camille promised herself that she would get a good night's sleep, return the next morning bright and early, and try to do what folk expected her to do.