[Child of the 7th Age]

Hearing the knock on the door, Miz Bella hurried over and invited Camille inside, "I am so glad to see you. There's much to be done. Have you eaten breakfast?" she added.

Camille said yes and explained that she'd eaten twice, bread and butter at home as well as two bowls of porridge in the Common Room.

"Good! You'll need your strength. I just finished breakfast myself. Let's have a look at the classroom.."

The classroom was in a state of chaos. Chairs were overturned, tables flung everywhere, and old papers thrown down; the entire room was littered with rolling dustballs. There were even some old household items scattered here and there. "I've no idea what they used this room for before. It almost looks as if someone had a jumble sale here." Miz Bella pushed a chair out of the way so they could enter the room. "Here's a broom and dustpan as well as some rags and a mop. You can put the trash in the cloth bag over there. I want to work on some plans for my lessons but when you need to move the furniture you can give me a holler. I expect we'll want to put some of the tables out in the courtyard and have them moved to a storage shed."

Bella was relieved to see that Camille looked happier than she had last night. The lass picked up the broom and enthusiastically began to sweep until Miz Bella interrupted.

"Ah, I almost forgot. Do you see the two crates over by the door? The Mayor sent those over this morning. Lots and lots of books from the Bag-end library. And Master Samwise plans to send two of his little ones to the school. I was so pleased."

"What shall I do with them, Miz Bella?"

"See the shelves over there" Miz Bella pointed to a series of shelves lining the wall. "Set the books on the shelves and then put them in alphabetical order according to the titles. That may take a while, but it will help me to find them later on."

Camille looked stonily ahead and said nothing but Miz Bella had already whizzed back through the door and returned to her own work.