Page 73 of The Best-Kept Secrets
To Father and Mother, Scott said, “We are forming the opposing team. I hope you’ll join us.”
With her brow drawn, Mother said, “I don’t know that an American would be overly adept at games of wit.”
“True,” Father said without hesitation.
Shocked silence settled over the room, all eyes on Duke’s parents. Uncle Niles’s lips were pressed together in an obvious struggle to keep quiet. Somehow, Mother and Father managed to make things worse than had seemed possible.
Newton came to the rescue once more. “The Seymours can be on our team.”
Scott turned to Colm. “Do you harbor any unexpressed doubts about American intelligence?”
Colm smiled broadly. “None whatsoever. Consider me a stanch member of your team.”
Far from looking abashed at their own inexcusable behavior, Mother and Father ruffled up, whispers passing between them about how very typical it was for a Greenberry to side against them.
The teams were quickly formed after Mother and Father’s blunder. Duke made certain that he was on the same team as his parents since that would make it easier to rein them in if need be.If.He’d long couched his concerns about their behavior in terms ofpossibilityrather thaninevitability, though the latter was far more accurate.
Charlie was elected to be the first guesser and, as such, walked with bouncing step into the corridor, closing the door behind him. The Pack and Huntresses all turned in near unison to Artemis.
She laughed. “You are hoping I will think of something my Charlie will never guess?”
Nods answered.
“He is one of the most intelligent people I know,” Artemis said. “There is very little that he cannot sort out.”
“Likely because he’s not American,” Toss said, almost keeping the laughter out of his voice.
“That should be what Charlie has to guess,” Daria said. “‘An American.’”
They all immediately agreed that that was a good option. Duke watched his parents for signs of offense, but they sat in displeased, somewhat haughty silence.
Charlie was brought back into the room, grinning with excitement. Games were among his favorite activities. He’d always been incredibly diverting. He eyed the gathering, likely debating the person to whom he ought to pose his first question. After only a moment, he chose Daria.
“To which kingdom does the thing thought of belong?” Charlie asked.
“Animal,” she answered before clasping her hands over her mouth. From behind her hands, she said, “I do hope that answer does not give offense.”
Gillian leaned a bit toward her. “Not the least offense. It is the correct answer, after all.”
“Correct but potentially offensive.” Charlie’s eyes narrowed in thought, but his smile didn’t fade. He spun around and questioned Tobias. “The thing thought of is a person?”
Tobias laughed. “Some would say so.”
That brought laughter from the group. Scott good-naturedly declared that answer “misleading and offensive.” His objections, of course, led to even more laughter.
Charlie turned directly to their resident American, studying him a moment. “How specific did the group decide to be?” he said quite obviously to himself.
“This is rather a juvenile game, isn’t it?” Father grumbled to Mother in a voice not quite quiet enough.
Being the clever person he was, Charlie quickly turned that comment around. “Just juvenile enough for me to have sorted the answer after only two questions. The thing thought of is ‘Americans.’”
Charlie’s teammates cheered. The opposing team made a show of being quite disappointed, but there were smiles all around.
M. Fortier leaned a bit toward Uncle Niles and said, “His father’s whimsical nature and his mother’s intelligence.”
Uncle Niles nodded. “Quite a combination of the two.”
What would people say Duke had inherited from his parents? Few people were ever permitted to experience anything beyond his parents’ bitterness.
