Sir Keith laid a ruler across the book where he'd stopped writing and pulled over a pad of paper.

"You count to ten, like so." He drew nine lines on one corner of the pad, then a tenth one across. "Then start again. When you have ten groups of ten, circle it. And so on. That way you always know where you are. Take a ruler to mark your place on the shelf." He handed her a wooden stick.

"Thank you," Annuetta said, "but may I have two rulers?"

He handed her a second ...