Page 10 of The Watcher

He hadn’t said he didn’t like Lily. He seemed almost annoyed with her for being an easy target. But he was hard to read with the flames flickering in front of his face, turning his dark cheeks a flushed red and flaring in the darkness of his deep brown eyes.

“You don’t believe Lily then? About the man in the woods watching her?” Kateri moved to the other side of the fire pit so she could see him straight on.

Joe shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at her. “I believe her,” he said angrily. “I believe her because I’ve seen the creepy stalker at the edge of the woods. But c’mon, I don’t believe that he’s this Frog God of yours.”

“You think it’s just a story? Some silly Native American legend?” Kateri asked softly.

Joe looked at her as if she were pulling his leg. “Yes! Besides, you told Lily it wasn’t real."

"I said probably wasn't real."

"That's what I said. Hopefully it worked to calm Lily down, so she’ll stop ruining the camp for everyone else. I heard Nathan earlier. He’s going to send us all home early because Lily is such a wimp.”

“The legends are often based in fact, but perhaps I told you the legend of the Frog God because there are lessons to be learned from it.”

Joe just raised his eyebrows at her, daring her to find a lesson in the story of a giant frog jumping up to catch the sun. “Yeah, I heard what you said to Lily about falling in love. Not much of a lesson."

Kateri sighed. He was so angry. How did he get to be this way? What had life served up to him? Either way, his attitude towards Lily wasn’t something Kateri could ignore, and this was her only chance to steer him to a different future. She knew she couldn't change his whole mindset. Too many people had tried to do that with her when she was a teenager, and even when she recognized that they were right, she still fought, trying to keep the upper hand in a world that tried to crush the life out of her. “That’s notyourlesson. That’s hers. Look, the Frog God knows something you don’t. In a few years, Lilyisgoing to be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Joe snorted.

“Do you look the same as you did when you were eleven?” Kateri said sarcastically.

Joe sobered quickly, but his stance didn’t soften. Inside his pockets, his hands clenched in clearly defined fists.

“I didn’t think so.” Kateri continued. “What’s more, Lily will do amazing things."

"How doyouknow that?"

"The Frog God chooses his obsessions based on more than mere looks. Which may be why he’s able to see her for what she is and what she will be, as opposed to you who can only remember her glasses and her braces and her bookworm persona. She'll earn an Olympic medal in karate, or win the Nobel peace prize, or be concert pianist. Where will you be, Joe? What will you do?” Kateri glared right back at Joe. What could she do to make this kid pay attention, change his ways, reach for his dreams? “When the Frog God comes back for her, will you be ready to defend her?”

Joe made a face. “You’re not serious.”

"I’m dead serious.”

"You can't be." He got madder."He doesn't exist."

"Then how am I able to do this?” Crouching down, Kateri touched the dry earth by the fire pit.

Beneath her palm, the fires from below flared. The cool earth buckled and heaved. The trees slapped their branches and flapped their tops. Screams rose from the bathrooms and the longhouse. Kateri rode the ground waves, anticipating each buckle and swerve.

Joe yelled. "What the hell!" He stumbled. He sat down. Put his hands flat to the ground to hold himself in place. Yelled again. "How could you do that? No. No! Damn it, no."

She lifted her hand from the earth. She stood. The shaking stopped.

Nathan stepped out of the longhouse. "Kateri! Do you mind? We're trying to calm them down, not shake them up!"

Joe sat cross-legged, looking incredulously between her and Nathan.

"I'm done," she called, and waved Nathan back inside.

"You didn't do that," Joe insisted. "You can't do that. That's impossible. How could you do that?"

Kateri dusted off her fingers and looked down into his eyes. "Do what?"

"No. I don't believe it. No. Are youserious?"

But he did believe it. She could see that in the appalled terror and awe that lit his face. "Am I serious about you? I’m not sure. Perhaps you won’t be around to protect Lily. Who knows what will happen to you? All you are is a jock, right? What kind of trajectory is that when less than 1% of football players even get drafted?”

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