Ed rolled his eyes as he muttered how he'd like to see the old man try it. He didn't care about school so what did he care for punishment? He continued to lean back in his chair and had started to doodle on his chalkboard what looked like a bulbous eggplant with eyes going two different ways saying 'skool is foon!'.

He wanted to see mainly how some of the newer students acted with the chalkboards... When he saw the younger one looking everywhere but his board, Uriel had an idea of the problem. With the older boy, it was harder. He pulled out a slingshot and loaded it with a wad of scrap paper, aiming at the top of Eds head and letting it fly. Assuming he got attention by doing so, he held up the sling shot and said, "Do you like this sling shot? I made it myself." It wasn't a simple wooden one but it was fabricated from steel. "I have another one just like it that could use a home. If you want it, you have to do something for me. first, I want to see you in the office after class so we can talk about why you're drawing, and very nicely so, instead of copying the board. Secondly, you have to be willing to earn it by doing your work like you are supposed to. Do you want it?"

Bram instantly started drawing. He wanted to earn a slingshot as well. It was a stickman in a boat.

Ed was about to say something and paused. He frowned and stared intently  trying to solve the puzzle that was Mister Meijer. After a few seconds, he relaxed and pointed at him.

"I got it. You'll give it to me and then tell the constable I stole it. That way you don't have ta buy another as a reward." He grinned and tapped the side of his head. "think you're so smart. School is stupid..It don't teach us anything important. Like how ta make him a better fisherman  or her a better wife ta some one..."  he gestured to Bram and then an older girl who sat to the side. "So you just keep it."

"It teaches you plenty. And you're not getting a reward for being mouthy or drawing in class," he paused, "Neither are you," he said to the younger, and then looked back at Ed. "If you want this, you have to earn it... Just like if you want money, you have to earn it. If you want to count your money, you need school." He stuck it in his desk and locked it. "And I didn't buy it, I made it, kid. Because I went to school, I have a house of my own that I paid for and built with money I counted, which I learned how to do in school. He might not become a better fisherman, but then he might when he learns about how many fish he catches. You're too busy not giving school a chance while most of the others want to learn. If you don't want to learn, fine, but leave everyone else out of your little scheme." He yawned as if unfazed by the kid. "What is your real problem? Can't read? You need school for that."

"I can count, ser!" Bram piped up. He knew he was stupid, but her wasn't that stupid!

Edward rolled his eyes. "Course I can count. We learn that much, but after that it don't matter, now do it? Reading ain't useful. I never needed it, neither did my dad. You can't say that like if I did well in class I'd be going ta some fancy school and gettin' a fancy life. It don't work like that. You show me one person who 'as and I'll listen to ya." He shook his head and dropped his chalkboard into his desk showing he wouldn't work.

"You're looking at one. Now, I grew up in a rich family... However, I left home and I decided to do things on my own. It wasn't easy, but I have a ledger, which requires reading, writing, and math. I learned that in school. I went to university with money I earned on my own, and I saved that money up and I decided to buy land and get married. Am I rich beyond measure? Absolutely not, but I can tell you how to stretch a shilling beyond a handful of candy so that you can eat well and live in relative comfort. The point isn't to make you better at your job as much as it is to teach you how to take what you have earned and make it work for you. I have a house, I am to be married, I have chickens and a horse, and my bathtub is bigger than you are. My mother and father's money did not pay for those things. I built the house with my own hands, I cook my own meals, and I wouldn't have been able to do this without learning how to read and write and do mathematics. I wouldn't even be a teacher if I had not gone to school." He went to the black board and grabbed the erasures, dropped them unceremoniously onto the table in front of the kid. "Make yourself useful." He was not beyond pulling a kid by his ear if he had to... And then to Bram he said, "If you do your math, you can work your way up to the sling shot. But you have to do the work. How about you show Mister Beanpole how it is done? Go up to the blackboard and do the sums. You can do it."

Bram was watching the confrontation with open mouth, fascinated as long as he was not involved, but when the teacher addressed him, he turned red. Reluctantly, he got out of the bench and slowly walked up to the blackboard, trembling.
"Dunce." A boy nearby whispered.
He picked up the chalk and in barely readable handwriting he copied the sum. Except that he had turned the minus into a plus. Some children grasped.

Ed cracked a grin at the teacher. "Sure. Not like they thought you had no money. You were dressed in rags I'm sure and came to the school unwashed cause you had no money. I believe it. " He didn't  believe a damned word of it.
He frowned as the man dropped the erasers on his desk and did  nothing at first  When the kids were going to give Bram a hard time, it was his chance to be center of attention again.

"Make me." He dropped the erasers loudly on the floor, ignoring the chalky cloud that rose and marked the area around his feet.