The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted Page B

hadn't thought about before! So many things I hadn't planned on!
    I crossed the room to open the narrow window. It took some doing, for the window was jammed.
    "What are you doing?" James inquired, leaning up on one elbow. "Are you one of these sorts who need fresh air to sleep?"
    "No," I said. Having at last forced open the window, I reached out and pulled the outer shutters in so tight that not even the merest sliver of moonlight could penetrate into the room. "I'm one of these sorts who need total darkness to sleep."
    I shut the window, extinguished the lamp. Only when the room was pitch-black did I commence removing my own clothes, intensely aware with every button I undid that I had never been naked in front of anyone in my life, unless one counted when one was a baby, which I did not, and this first person I was naked in front of was a boy.
    Thank God he could not see me.
    I hurried out of the rest of my day clothes, hurried into my nightshirt, and practically dove between the sheets of my bed. Unfortunately, not being able to see anything, I barked my shin against the bedpost.
    "Ouch," James said in the darkness.
    "Yes," I agreed, wincing.
    "Shall I plan on you doing this routine every night?" James wondered.
    "Hopefully I won't bark my shin every night." I blushed in the dark before admitting, "But yes, pretty much."
    "Modest?" he inquired.
    "Hideous scar," I replied, praying he would accept that. "I don't like to make other people scream at the sight of it if I can help it."
    "It can't be all that bad," he said.
    "You have no idea."
    "Very well then. I suppose, when I remember, I can wait out in the hall and let you change first. That should save your shins a bit."
    I was startled at this kindness.
    "Thank you," I said simply.
    I heard him yawn again.
    "You are an odd one, aren't you, Will?" Despite his words, which were less a question than a statement, and despite what he'd said earlier about how "odd" was to be avoided if one wanted to stay out of trouble, I heard no rancor. He was merely making an observation. And I did like that he, unlike Hamish and the others, used my given name, at least when we were alone together.
    "James," I said, using his name for the first time, enjoying the feel of the letters forming in my mouth, before I repeated the words I'd spoken just a moment ago, "you have no idea."

Chapter six
     
September 10, 18—

    Dear Bet,

    Well, I have done it! I am now officially a servant in Her Majesty's military! And I owe it all to you. You know, when you first came up with what I've always referred to as your harebrained scheme, I thought you were mad and said as much. But I don't think I have ever said—and now find that I must, now that I have at least embarked on the achievement of my life's ambition—how damned grateful I am to you for that harebrained scheme. After all, were it not for you, I would not be here.
    And where exactly is here? You may well ask. "Here" is with others of my kind, young men who, for whatever reason, wish to give their lives to military service.
    You will laugh to hear this, but enlisting was just as easy as I told you it would be. After leaving you at the inn early that morning, I made my way to the next town over, and, before the sun had even risen very high in the sky, I glimpsed a man setting up a stall right in the street, seeking fresh recruits. He did not ask my age, but having visually assessed me and decided I was "on the youngish side," he gave me a special appointment.
    I am to be a drummer boy! Now, do not keep laughing, for I am certain that once I have been with the regiment for enough time and had the chance to prove myself, I will be given even greater opportunities to show my value. In the meantime, I will just pound, pound, pound away on my drum for all I am worth. You know I have never played an instrument before, save for a few notes on the piano, but I am finding the drum to be rather easy to master. If one just pounds loudly and at regular