"He learned his first day here not to try that with me," came the blonde's answer, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. Allegra Clearwater was in possession of a gentle and nurturing soul, but not one that took kindly to being mistreated. While she had not shirked or manipulated her duties in any fashion, perish the thought, she had been very forthright with Mr. Albright about the level of abuse she was willing to tolerate.

"Besides," Allegra added, "they do tend to be more docile when the sun's down, don't you find?" While Miss MacFusty had only a year's more experience than Allegra herself, she did still find she tended to defer to the redhead somewhat.