Page 12 of Brutal Knight

Black pigtails flew past me and I gasped, stumbling. She ran ahead of me, jerking to a halt at the edge of the dock where she turned with a triumphant grin. “See? I still beat you."

"You cheated!" I cried again, unable to believe that this ugly girl with the freaky colored eyes wasactuallyfaster than me.

Her expression flashed with outrage, her foot stomping as she watched me race towards her. "Did not!"

Growling in anger, I jumped, tackling her. We sailed off the edge of the dock and into the water. She shrieked, hat flying, her expression surprised.

The water was so clear, you could see the slime-covered wooden posts of the dock. Small fish flit around us, and below us, a white, sandy bottom. I still held her, kicking upwards towards the sky. Her face was panicked and she fought against me, trying to break free.

I suddenly felt bad. I'd been so jealous that she was faster than me that I'dtackledher into the water.

What kind of gentleman would do that?My Lita would be so disappointed in me.

As soon as we broke the surface, I let her go. She pulled in a deep breath, choking on the sharp tang of the ocean water. "You jerk!" She coughed again.

"I know." Frowning, I licked the salt from my dry lips, staying close to her. “I’m sorry."

"I can swim, you know.” She tried to swim away from me but I didn’t back away. Instead, I gently pushed her towards the dock, just in case she was lying.

"Are you okay?"

She struggled to stay upright and finally grabbed ahold of the mucky dock post. "Of course, I am." She gave me an offended look.

I laughed. "You look like a drowned rat."

"And whose fault is that?" She splashed me. “And you made me lose my hat.” She looked around, trying to find it. We spotted it being dragged out to sea by the waves.

“It’s just a hat.” At the hurt look on her face, my laughter died. “I’m sorry. I was just mad you're faster than me."

She peered at me though thick eyelashes. "You called me a cheater."

"You ran off before we said, ‘go’.”

"And you weren’t going to do the same thing?" That same defiance she’d shown earlier came back out again.

"Maybe." There was no way I was admitting that I'd planned on doing just that.

"Do I really look like a drowned rat?"

"Of course not. I was just kidding." She really did. Though in this light, her eyes didn't look as freaky as they had before.

"Oh." She grew silent, and clung tighter to the dock, shivering.

"Look, it's Ciego!" I pointed towards the mint green boat slowly making its way out towards the open water. Old man Ciego's back was bent over, his wrinkled hand on the tiller as he steered, a lost expression on his face.

"Does his wife’s ghost really show him where to go?" Tatiana sounded skeptical, like she really didn't believe me.

"Of course she does!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "How else would he know how to come and go? The man's blind. Look at him."

“You sure?” She still sounded uncertain.

“Of course I am.” I turned back to her. "Hey, why don't we play another game. I bet I can stay underwater longer than you can."

This time IknewI was going to beat her. People called meel delfin, the dolphin, I could hold my breath so long.

"I bet you can't!"

“This time, we go down at the same time," I warned her. I didn’t want her to wait until I was under the water first.

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