”Oh.” She looked a little round-eyed.
Kit grinned “Which brings us to the reason we’re here. She needs advanced lessons.”
”Hmm, yes, I should think so, if rumors are true.
”They’re true,” Kit sighed. “Detailed histories, languages, the works.”
The librarian tapped well-manicured fingertips against the desktop. “Yes. I should think Latin to start, followed by French-modern, middle, and old-to cover all bets. And Italian and Greek. And we’d better throw in the main Chinese dialects-”
”You’re not serious?” Margo broke in, her voice echoing the panic in her eyes. “Latin? And …and Chinese and all those Frenches …and…
Brian blinked. “Well, yes, I am serious. Goodness, Miss Margo, you can’t expect to scout if you don’t speak at least ten languages fluently.”
”Ten?” She glanced wildly at Kit. “TEN?”
Kit only rubbed the side of his nose. “Well, that’s a fairly limited beginning, but yes, ten might prove just barely adequate. I speak twenty fluently and can make myself understood in considerably more than that. I did warn you, Margo. Scouting is a scholarly business, above all else. When you’re not down time exploring a gate, you’re studying. Constantly “
”But
”I don’t make up these rules just to upset you.”
”I know, I know,” she wailed, “I understand that, but…”
”He’s right, Miss Margo,” the librarian said quietly. “My steadiest customers are never the tourists. They’re the guides and the scouts. Particularly the scouts. They spend hours here every day, learning and learning. In fact, if you’ll examine the gentlemen at the computers over there or back in the language labs, you’ll discover half the scouts who work out of TT-86 on a regular basis. Excuse me, please.”