Page 34 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

I froze and looked back at him, my heart skipping a beat. “What?”

“I enjoy it. Words. Reading. I’ve never taught someone before but . . . I’d like to. Do you want to learn?”

I blinked and turned to fully face him. “You’d really do that?”

“Well, I mean, it’s no picnic but yes.” He smiled, and I laughed.

“Yes, I’d love to.”

Gil nodded. “I’ll pick something easy to start with.” He went to one of the shelves and ran his fingers over the titles.

I came up beside him and looked, seeing the letters, but I was only able to make out one of the words on one of the books. “That one there says cat. I can read that.”

Going back over the titles, Gil’s finger stopped on the one I mentioned, and he pulled it out. “Little Gray Cat,’” he said and looked at me. “You want to try this one? It’s not very long.”

Nodding, I glanced at him and noticed just how tall he was being so close to him. My head came to his shoulder, and looking up at him made me feel rather small. Inches away from him, I could smell something on him, a perfume of sorts. It wasn’t flowery, but clean, and I inhaled quietly, soaking in a fresh scent mixed with . . . what? Musk? Sweat?

“Maybe we should use the table,” Gil said, and he set the book down on it.

Coming out of my stupor, I sat beside him and waited as he joined me.

“Here, we’ll see how well you can read this book,” he started. He took out a pair of spectacles from his pocket and pushed them onto his nose, and when he looked at me, my heart fluttered. “It’ll give me an idea of how much you know.”

“Okay.” I blinked and looked down. Upon opening the book, the spine cracked, and I smoothed my hand down the paper, enjoying the sound of it for some reason. I swallowed hard and looked at the first sentence. I was delighted when I could read the first two words. “On a. . .” I began, but then the third word stumped me. “S-so.”

“Sunny,” Gil said.

“Sunny . . . day, I . . . win . . . wha . . .”

“Went.”

I nodded. “Went to a. . .” I glared at the word before me, completely stumped by it. Feeling Gil’s eyes on me, I lowered my head, focusing on his interlocked hands on the table. “I don’t know,” I said.

When Gil made a small noise, I looked up at his face. Was he laughing at me already?

Gil’s lips had tugged up, but rather than seeing mockery in his eyes, I saw the softest, most real smile he’d given me since I’d met him. “Night Fair,” he told me. “Keep on.”

Ten minutes later, I finished the book. Thankfully, Gil had been patient with me, and I was more than happy for that.

He left the table to grab a few pieces of paper and brought them back. Taking a pencil, he wrote down all the letters of the alphabet.

I looked at each one in amazement. I’d seen letters, of course, but no one had ever taken the time to teach me individually. I was mesmerized by them—but also afraid. What if I couldn’t do it? What if I was too stupid to read?

“Now, we’ll go over each one,” he said. “Repeat it after me.” He started with A, and I repeated each one after him until we got to Z. “Good. Now, we’ll focus on you writing them. Write the first five down a few times and repeat it every time you do.”

Taking up the pencil, I drew the three lines that made up the first letter. “A,” I said, repeating it three more times as I drew it. Then I did the same with the next four letters.

“You’re already good at this.” Gil smiled at me.

“Those are just words of flattery. I know it’s like teaching a child. I’m twenty-four. I should know all of this already.”

“People can’t help how they were raised, Cale. And I’m no exception. With all I know, it’s doing me no good in here. So, believe me when I tell you that you’re already doing well.”

“Thank you.”

We worked for an hour or so. Gil wrote out all the words I already knew, and by the time the room grew darker, I looked up and rubbed my head, too tired to go on.

“Here,” he said, giving me the book about the cat. “Take this with you. I want you to read it every night, even if you don’t know all the words. Underline the ones you can’t sound out, and we’ll work on them tomorrow. All right?”

---