Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
"I could teach you," Valmir says, glancing up at me. "All you have to do was ask."
Uh huh. Smells like a trap to me. If I ask him for help with anything, I'd be beholden to him, and I rather like having the upper hand at the moment. "Absolutely not. Now, if you don't mind, I'm about to throw my line again and catch something magnificent."
He tilts his head, his catlike triangular ears pricking. "Then you don't want to see what I've built, April?"
The question makes me pause. It's the silky way he says it, the oh-so-casual insouciance in his voice that's practically taunting me. He's got something to show me and judging by the swish of his tail, he's eager. I set down my fishing line and pole, turning to Rukhar and Pak. "I need to go hang out with Uncle Valmir for a bit. Are you guys going to be okay without me here?"
Rukhar gives me a constipated look. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"Shouldn't an adult be supervising you guys?"
"You think you're supervising us?"
Okay, ouch. I guess they really do think they're doing me a favor by helping me fish. "You know what? Fair." I reach over and ruffle Rukhar's hair. He scowls at me and looks just like his father for a moment. "Let's go find a parental figure anyhow, all right?"
Valmir trails a short distance behind as we gather up our fishing supplies and head back in towards the main camp. He doesn't join in the conversation, but seems content to lurk behind us and listen in. Once Pak and Rukhar are situated with an adult, I turn back to my cat shadow.
He lingers a short distance away, keeping space between himself and the others in the camp. Always separate, never a part of things. It strikes me as…disappointing. I don't know why I care, but I do. When I hesitate, Valmir indicates that I should follow him.
I do, commenting, "You know you can talk to people other than me, right?"
"I talk to Skarr."
Not something I'd brag about, personally. And Skarr isn't here right now. He's visiting the cave Ancestors with Tia and Rem'eb. I can't help but notice that Valmir doesn't really socialize. There are some in the tribe who keep to themselves just because they're more introverted, like Elly. There are some like Sabrina and Daisy who want to always be in the thick of things. And then there's Valmir, who stares at people from the shadows and looks like he hates everyone on the beach for simply existing. As a gregarious, social sort who enjoys that everyone here is one big happy family (for the most part), his insistence on being a loner bugs me. "The kids don't bite, you know."
He shoots me a baffled look. "Why would they bite?"
"It's an expression. I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you to be friendly to the tribe. We're all family. Ohana."
"What?" His brows furrow. "Ohana?"
Where did that come from? I have no idea what ohana means, myself. I rub my mouth, trying to figure out how I knew that word. It feels familiar, and yet at the same time, the translator chip in my brain is telling me it doesn't recognize it. "Never mind. What did you want anyhow?"
A big, self-satisfied grin creases his face. "I made you something."
That shouldn't send as much heat flaring through my veins as it does. I fight the urge to shiver all over, and my khui starts humming like it's on diesel fuel. "Oh?"
"Follow me." He saunters away from the group near the fire, heading back toward my hut. And since I'm a wildly curious sort, I follow.
It doesn't take long to see what he's so proud of. There's a freaking snake made of bones twisting along the beach. As I get closer, I see that the "snake" is made up of rib bones, all tied together and then sewn into a massive hide sheet made from multiple skins that acts as a floor. It's less of a snake and more of a tunnel. A long tunnel. I could probably send a barrel through it, it's so large, and the length of it stretches from behind my hut all the way to the next one down.
I can't help it. I start to laugh.
He puts his hands on his hips and gazes down at the behemoth cage proudly. Valmir looks thrilled at his own efforts. "Impressive, is it not?"
"It's enormous!" I laugh even harder, delighted. It's the biggest animal cage I've ever seen, large enough to fit an entire herd of two-fangs. Makana and his entire extended family could hang out in there. It's a whole dog-run...for a creature the size of a rabbit.
Valmir's expression turns skeptical at my amusement. "Well, of course it's enormous. Your pet needs room to move about and stretch his legs. His cave should be a welcome home, not something that makes him feel confined. Cages like that are miserable."