Children of Toil ✔

Chapter Eight

Lucan was sitting on the stairs as Lillian came around the corner of the building. She jerked to a halt.

"I wasn't expecting you until two, Mister Hayes," she said glancing up at him.

"Clock stopped". Lucan grinned. "I took a guess."

Lillian's heart skipped when he smiled. She reprimanded herself for her unrestrained reaction. Once inside she placed her satchel on the table and said, "Would you sit, Mister Hayes, while I get myself organised?"

Looking around the room, Lucan said, "I'm thinkin' I won't fit at one of them desks, Miss Rowles."

She placed a slate and two leads on her table. "Oh no, of course you won't. Silly me." She blushed and added, "I'll go and get another chair then we can both sit at my table."

Lucan watched her scurry from the room. She was back in a moment with a chair so he took the chair from her and carried it to her desk.

Sitting across from him, Lillian smiled and brushed hair from her face. "Well then. Let me see. Can you read or write anything at all?"

"No, Miss."

"Not even your name?"

"Just placed me mark."

Lillian almost corrected his speech but thought better of it. There'd be plenty of time for that later. "I shall start you with the alphabet."

"What's that then?"

"Oh... the alphabet are letters, there are twenty-six of them. We shall start with the first." She paused in thought, and then continued, "When these letters are put together in different sequences, they make words. For example, your first name, Lucan, is made up of the letters L...u...c...a...n."

Lucan watched as she wrote each letter of his name on the slate with the lead. He smiled as she looked up at him.

Again, Lillian's heart skipped and her head seemed to fill with fog. She cleared her throat hoping the fog thinned. "Would you like to try to write your name?"

He nodded so she handed him the lead. Lucan grasped it in his fist.

"No! No!" she shrieked waving her hands at him.

Lucan jerked his head back and stared at her.

Her face flooded with colour. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, but you don't hold the lead like that." She reached out and took it from him. "Like this. A pinch almost. Using your thumb, pointer and index fingers." She smiled, telling herself he wasn't a child and therefore she must not treat him as one.

Lucan took the lead in his hand and tried to hold it as she said, but fumbled.

"It's not so easy is it, Mister Hayes?" Lillian said suppressing a giggle. "You have rather large fingers."

Chuckling, Lucan said, "No it ain't easy that's for sure".

"Isn..." Lillian stopped her correction midway. "I suppose I should have shown you first. I'm not being a very good teacher, am I?"

He smiled and held her gaze.

Lillian swallowed the lump in her throat, and then took his hand in hers. She manoeuvred his fingers into position, and then looked back at his face.

A warm feeling flowed through Lucan's body at the touch of her hand. He held his breath trying to remain detached.

"There we are. How does that feel?"

"Strange, but I guess I'll get used to it," he said.

"Now see if you can write your name by copying what I've written," Lillian encouraged.