She gazed at the ceiling. “Well, let me think. I’m seventeen now, so…” She counted on her fingers and I stared in horror as she reached her tenth digit. Peeling laughter, she waved her hand at me. “I'm kidding. I’ve been here a year. My parents are archaeologists; they found the school while they were up here on a dig.”
“And?”
She shrugged. “And then they had to go on another dig, called away unexpectedly. Some big find in Rome, apparently.” She studied her fingernails. “Although what’s left to find in Rome, I have no idea. That place has been pillaged and sold to the tourists.” She lifted her face and gave me a small smile. “So here I am. It’s not too bad.” She glanced about the room and I watched her shiver and curl her shoulder in. She wasn’t wrong. The room was chilled and damp. I was going to die of consumption in a decrepit Scottish castle. On the plus side, maybe a prince would come along and save me. “And, as for the rules, the staff think there are rules, but I can’t think of a single one that’s kept.”
I nodded a little at this piece of good news. The only good news of the day. The uniform was one thing, attending lessons was another… if I had to follow a strict list of rules I had no hope of remembering with my scatter-brain approach to life, I couldn’t see me lasting longer than one night in Fire Stone.
I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe it was jet lag, maybe it was the Scottish fresh air, but I blurted, “I’d love to be an archaeologist, it’s always been my dream.” The moment the words were out of my mouth I cringed.
I sounded like an idiot.
I’d never been able to explain the interest the earth held for me, all the secrets it contained. But, I didn’t need to tell a complete stranger about them.
“Really? It always looked dull to me. But, I guess it pays well. Mum and Dad can afford to keep me here with the insane fees.”
I sat on the bed, careful not to get too close. I didn’t want to seem overfamiliar—or desperate. “It’s not about money, or fame, although who doesn’t dream of finding a unique world view changing artefact. It’s kind of hard to explain.” I shrugged.
“I can truthfully say I’ve never dreamed of that.” She sniggered a little, but I let it pass. She had a fair point. Sobering her face, she waved for me to continue. “Please, tell me why you like it so much. Maybe I can get Mum and Dad to give you some holiday experience.”
Perking up at the prospect of a connection to the world I longed to join, I tucked my feet up under my legs. Philomena was the most real person I’d met in a long time. There was nothing bubble-gum fake about her. I’d known her five minutes and she was already talking about introducing me to her mum and dad.
My cheeks blushed a warm burn. “I know it’s geeky, and I don’t go around telling everyone, but it’s like the earth is talking to me. It wants to tell me things.”
Silence swept around us. A drip from outside the window the only sound.
“Okay, make sure you only tell me things like that. The girls here, well, they are privately educated, a lot are snobs. Not to say they aren’t fun, and they aren’t all the same. But talking to them about the fact you want to roll in the earth and hear its voice… It’s not going to go down well.”
I scrunched my face. “That’s not what I said.” Why did I even say anything? What was I thinking? I knew better than that. I uncrossed my legs and started to shuffle towards the edge of the bed.
“Hey, hey. Don’t go all G.I. Jane. It’s cool.” She grasped my hand in an unexpected act of familiarity. “I think we’re going to be cool.”
“Thanks.” My cheeks flamed with chagrin.
“How’s your time keeping though? Honestly, if I’m going to find a new bestie, then it’s got to be someone who gets me to class on time.”
“Bestie?” I shuddered a laugh. “Let’s not get too carried away.”
“Hey, you’re my only American friend. It’s destiny, plus, lemme guess, you want to meet a prince.”
“Who? Me?”
“Don’t all Americans want to come over here, drive around in a Volkswagen Beetle and accidentally knock over the heir to the throne and fall wildly in love?”
I paused. “Isn’t that a movie?”
She shrugged. She was insane. Crazy. I liked her. “Well, I can introduce you to a prince. Come on. Did you want to get changed? Put some make-up on?” She went to grab for my duffle, her fingers on the zip.
“No, it’s okay.” I tried to block her. “It won’t take me long.” I glanced ruefully at my tiny bag containing my everything.
“Sure thing, New Yorker.”
“How do you know I’m from New York?” Technically it was Queens, worlds apart, but I wasn't going to split hairs over it.
“Let’s just say I’m a whizz with the computer.”
“You had access to my file?” I cringed. Did she know I was an orphan? Did she know I’d spent ten years by myself?
“I’d use the word access very loosely. But, believe me, working in the school office to pay for some of my fees has its perks.”
“You work in the office?”
“Sure I do. I said my mum and dad did well; I didn’t say they were rolling rich.” She fluffed out her wild halo of curls, leaning into a mirror with aged and darkened glass. Standing up, I stood next to her and peered at myself. I frowned at what I saw. Straight red hair and grey
