A Calculus of Angels
Chapter One
Der Lehrling
Distracted as he was, the sudden pounding at the door captured all of Benjamin
Franklin's attention. Sticking his head above the bedsheets, he stared for an
instant at the source of the noise, completely at a loss.
"Katarina!" A man's voice shouted, profundo, followed by ever
more violent thuds.
The appropriate reaction occurred to Ben, and he swiftly disentangled himself
from milky limbs with as much enthusiasm as he had earlier entangled in them.
"It's my father!" Katarina whispered.
"Oh, only your father," Ben hissed back, reaching frantically
for his breeches. "Ask him to come back later, then, will you?" He tumbled out
of the bed and began struggling into the breeches, wondering where the rest of
his clothing and his haversack had gone to.
"Katarina!" her father roared again. "Open the door. I know you
have a man in there!"
"I don't think he will listen to me," Katarina replied.
Diving for his shirt, Ben yet allowed himself an admiring glance at tousled
honey hair, half obscuring a softly rounded face still rosy from exerti ... read full excerpt from A Calculus of Angels ebook
