Page 66 of These Divided Shores
“Argridian rat!” she screeched. The four kids ducked. Teo, red-faced, froze in horror.
“Hey!” Vex wobbled forward. “The hell is your problem?”
The woman snapped to face him, deepening her frown. She lifted her broom, her kids scattering into the road, and Teo, his eyes wide, shot toward Vex.
“This used to be a place of peace,” she said. “Now it crawls withscum—”
Edda grabbed Vex’s arm. Between them, Teo clung to her shirt.
“We are here to help you.” Kari stepped around them. “We are not here to cause harm.”
“I’ll cause her harm,” Vex snarled.
“That won’t help,” Edda countered.
Vex spun on Edda as Kari and Fatemah went to the woman. “She threatened Teo!”
“I’m all right, Vex,” Teo said softly. Vex shivered and managed a smile down at the kid.
Edda’s grip on his arm went tight. “Kari’ll handle the politics. But you getting into it with some scared Tuncian woman ain’t gonna be good for anyone. You wanted tohelp, right?”
Kari and Fatemah talked with the woman now, the three of them leaning over the steps.
Vex grinned faintly at himself. “Think Kari’s got a job for someone to stand around making sarcastic, unhelpful comments?”
He thought Edda’d berate him forthatsarcastic, unhelpful comment, but she said, “Laughter is useful.”
Teo still stood between Vex and Edda, the fist-sized rock in his hand.
Vex shivered again, clamping his arms over his chest. He looked down at that rock, up to those scared kids now hovering in the street.
Vex shrugged off Edda. “Hey, Teo—let me see that?”
Teo handed over the rock with a questioning look.
Knees cracking, Vex took a step, winced, took another, gritting his teeth as he put enough space between him and anyone still standing around.
The kids on the road perked up. God, did he still remember how to do this?
Vex tossed the rock into the air and caught it on his toes. He waved his arms for balance and a tremor made hisfoot twitch. But he held, sweat beading across his forehead.
Forget remembering how to do this. He wouldn’t be able to, even if it came back to him.
The kids on the street stepped closer. A few more peeked around corners ahead.
Vex popped the stone into the air and spun, catching it on his other ankle. Pain flared up his legs, echoed into his torso. He kicked it up again. One more time, he spun, caught it on his first foot, and landed that foot back on the ground.
The kids were smiling. Jostling each other, searching the ground for stones.
Teo tugged on Vex’s sleeve. “Can you teach me how to do that?”
“Yeah, kid.” Vex kicked the rock to Teo—and buckled to the ground. “Put it on your toes,” Vex said, hoping he didn’t sound like he was in too much pain. The other kids moved closer, watching him instruct Teo. “Yep, just like that. Now—careful, you gotta keep your balance—kick it up. Not so high!”
Teo launched the stone skyward. It plummeted back down, eliciting yelps of laughter from the kids who’d gathered.
“Like this?”
“Watch me! I think I got it!”
