Ice (33 page)

“I did
n’t expect to see you here,” Kavick said, smiling, when he finally reached me.

Just then I heard Marleen say, “Oh, there’s Justin Birch. He hasn’t been here since the accident.”

Kavick and I both immediately glanced at her. She was hurriedly making her way over to Justin just as Ms. Nosey was telling him bye, and saying for the third time that she had missed seeing him. As Marleen approached him, she said loudly, “Well, hello there stranger! We’ve missed you!”

I felt myself frown, and Kavick explained with a roll of his blue eyes, “That’s what everyone says to people who haven’t been here in a while. I guess it’s supposed to be a polite way of making people feel guilty for not attending. Don’t let it bother you. She’s still saying it to me. It’s like she’s determined to remind me that I missed church for most of the year.” He then glanced at Justin and said, “I understand how he feels. I haven’t been here since Tupit died, and I didn’t attend much before that after my mom and my two brothers died.”

I gave him a look that I hoped conveyed how grateful I felt for his words. It really did help me to ignore her and not let it bother me. I looked back at Justin again and said, “I didn’t know he went to church. He never mentioned it before yesterday.” I returned my gaze to Kavick and tipped my head to the side, mimicking what he sometimes did when he had a question for me. “What made you suddenly want to return?”

His eyes went back to me. I don’t think he caught that I was teasing him, though. “Well, a while back Tartok had suggested that it was actually safer for us not to attend church, because the hunter might follow us from the church and try to ambush us. But, he never much liked it, anyway. Adrik agreed that it was a possible risk, so he and his daughters immediately stopped attending. But, then with this talk of
marriage
…” He whispered the word and glanced around in a paranoid manner. “…I told Tartok that it doesn’t make sense for me to marry Anana, besides all the other reasons. This is the only church in Riverton. He insisted on us marrying in a church outside of Riverton, but I said no, just to make it more difficult for him. I thought it might get him off my case for a few days, but it didn’t. He said Anana and I better start going again to get reacquainted with the church so that we can get married soon.” He added with a mischievous grin, “I told him he had to come, too. Personally, I don’t think it’s that bad. What do you think of it?”

“I liked it. The only thing I didn’t like was the singing,” I whispered.

He snickered, nodding his head in avid agreement. “Hey, if you don’t have plans with your uncle for lunch, want to have lunch with me and Anana?” He quickly added, “That is if you don’t have plans with Marcus….” His voice trailed off and he shifted awkwardly.

“Sure. I don’t have plans,” I beamed, wanting to hang out with him far more than having the day all to myself, wondering how I was going to pass the time. “Let me check with Justin for a second.”

His smiled excitedly.

I headed for Justin and
he quickly wrapped things up with Marleen. He stepped toward me past her since she wouldn’t move. Her thin eyes look suspiciously toward Kavick and me several times, as if she smelled a scandal. I don’t know if Kavick or Anana had discussed a possible wedding at the church yet, or if Marleen had assumed on sight they were together. Suddenly, Molly didn’t seem so bad. Marleen’s eyes were so thin now she was practically glaring at me from the side while I asked Uncle Justin if it was alright to spend time with Kavick.

“Yeah, of course,” he said before patting my arm. “Have fun, kiddo.”

I smiled at him and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll be home in time for dinner.”

“Okay. Call me if you need me to pick you up.”

Kavick looked just as excited as I was. I whispered in his ear, “Let’s get out of this place! Marleen’s giving me the heebie-jeebies!”

He grinned and we trotted out of the church together. Walking outside felt so good; all the after-church
chatter and nosey strangers were making me nervous. Outside, I instantly felt better. Free. The bright sun I remembered was gone, replaced with clouds. It was a gray, dark day, but I didn’t mind one bit.

After a couple
of quick glances, I spotted Anana by the Miller’s SUV. I could see Tartok sitting in the passenger seat looking bitter and bored. Kavick jumped over the steps, but I took the conventional route, simply walking down them. We walked over to the vehicle and Anana gave me a small smile. I smiled back.

“Hi,” I said with an awkward wave.

“Hi…thanks for all your help,” she said in the same small voice I remembered.

“I’m glad I could help.”

Kavick looked a bit puzzled. “You two know each other?”

I nodded. “We met once. Tartok took me to one of your powwows, because I could get Doug to let us in his house.” I thumbed toward Tartok who watched us through the windshield, listening to every word.

Kavick still looked confused. I couldn’t tell if it was because I had said powwow, or if it was something else I had said.

Anana spoke up then, filling in the blanks. “Tartok brought her to the meeting that night they rescued you.”

He looked to me and asked, “But why did he go to you?”

I felt a bit uncomfortable, because Tartok was still watching us like a hawk. “He thought I knew where you were.”

Kavick narrowed his eyes at Tartok. Tartok narrowed his eyes back. They looked identical. “So, even back then you were following me around!” he declared, annoyed.

Anana shifted awkwardly and began fiddling with the zipper on her coat. Tartok reached over the driver’s seat and honked the horn, making us all jump. “Get in, already.”

We all began climbing in. Anana got behind the wheel. Tartok started to move out of his seat, but Kavick and I were already in the back. He sat back down and glared at us for a moment. Kavick glared back at him. Anana was watching them in her mirror, as if she was scared to move. I rubbed my knees nervously and said, “Is it just me, or did it get colder in here?”

I could see Anana’s reflection, hastily covering up a little grin with her hands. The sleeves of her coat were too big, covering her hands and half of her face. It appeared my words deflated Tartok’s intimidation and he slowly moved back around in his seat properly. He then said loudly, “Kavick, I think Anana would like you to sit up here with her.”

“I think
you
want me to sit up there,” Kaivck said, his cold tone matching Tartok’s.

“We both know Anana doesn’t like to admit how she feels.”

“What? No! I don’t mind! Really!” Anana panicked.

“See?”

“Stop being stupid, Tark. You’re not fooling anyone.”

As I watched them battle it out, I felt nearly as uncomfortable as poor Anana. I prayed I wouldn’t get dragged into it next.

“I’m not trying to fool anyone. Seeing as how she’s your
fiancé
—”

“She is
not my fiancé!”

“You said you would marry her if the wedding was here.”

“I said I
might
marry her if the wedding was here! Stop twisting my words! We shouldn’t even be having this conversation here!”

“I think we should, seeing as how you keep carrying on—!”

“Carrying on?! It’s not like we’re going to make-out in the backseat!”

“You said it, not me.”

Finally, I started maneuvering around Kavick to get to the door. “I’ll leave. I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“No—I’m sorry—Christine,” Kavick stammered desperately, following me out of the vehicle.

I didn’t go far, just about a few feet away. He left the door open, but it didn’t matter; they would be able to hear me, anyway. I could see that Kavick was extremely upset with himself about what I had witnessed. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have argued with him. Will you please give me another chance?”

I shook my head. “I don’t blame you. That would have driven me crazy, too. It’s him I…
.”

I wanted to say, “Have a problem with,” but I stopped myself, because I knew they could hear. At least Tartok wasn’t glaring at me through the window this time. “I just don’t want to cause any more problems between you two. It looks like you have enough as it is.”

We heard a car door and saw Anana standing outside the vehicle through Tartok’s window, crossing her arms. “If she can’t come, then I’m not, either,” Anana told him.

“Anana, it’s not right—!”

She cut him off, saying, still in a very calm voice, “What’s not right is how you’re acting. She saved Kavick’s life, too.”

“Just get back in the car before people start staring,” he said in a low voice.

Kavick took a step backwards toward the vehicle and gave me those puppy dog eyes.
“Please?”
he mouthed to me.

I rolled my eyes, knowing I couldn’t say no. “Okay.”

He grinned, turning around to climb back into the SUV. I followed, and when I shut the door I noticed Marleen craning her neck from the porch of the church. She was clearly too far away to hear anything, but she was going to try to see all she could.

Anana was back behind the wheel, slowly backing out of the parking place. It took a few minutes because of all the people crossing behind her to get to their cars. I could hear Tartok muttering angrily about people “not looking where they’re going,” “acting like a bunch of idiots,” and, “expe
cting everyone to stop for them.”

Anana, however, seemed very patient and didn’t show any road rage for the whole duration of the ride. It was a short drive to Kavick and Tartok’s house. Just as we left the heart of Riverton, we turned onto a road that snaked through a wooded area, and after a few minutes of zigzagging, she turned left at a fork that lead to their driveway.

As I stepped out, I took a moment to study the house. It was two stories with peeling white paint. It looked very old and beaten, but something about it made it feel inviting.

“I know, it’s pretty shabby,” Kavick said,
suddenly becoming embarassed.

“Oh, no! I like it!” I said shocked.

He smiled, immediately seeming more relaxed.

Just as we approached the front porch, there was a loud voice from overhead. “Hey!”

We all looked up and saw Suka standing on the roof. She had her hands cupped around her mouth. She grinned and placed her hands on her hips, straightening up to stand her full height. “Well, hello again, Ms. Birch! How’ve you been?”

I craned my head back and said, “Good, thanks. You?” It felt so strange greeting someone so casually who was all the way up on the roof of a house. I was also a little surprised I was getting such a warm welcome from the Miller sisters. I was afraid they might not want me hanging around Kavick, either, but they didn’t seem to mind…or they were polite enough not to sh
ow it. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like their kindness was genuine.

“Just chillin’ out up here, waiting for my peeps to come back…who
abandoned
me!” She had suddenly turned angry, looking down at the others. “Where have you guys been all day? And why haven’t you been answering your phones?!”

Kavick cocked his head like a confused dog and frowned. “You know
Tartok keeps our cell phone.”

She huffed and said, “Well, not you, of course! Tark and Anana! What’s the deal?!”

Anana didn’t raise her voice much when she spoke, but Suka could still hear her. “Church,” she said calmly, the opposite of her older sister.

Suka looked confused. “Why were you guys there? I thought we decided it was too dangerous.”

“Tartok said that we needed to get reacquainted with the church if we’re going to get married.”

“Because Kavick wants to get married there,” Tartok added quickly.

Suka’s eyes widened. “Holy crap! You two are getting married after all?!”

“No!” Kavick yelled vehemently.

She jumped, yet somehow didn’t fall of the edge. “Okay…sorry. Dang, it’s like you’re allergic to the word.”

“Sorry,” Kavick said a bit awkwardly in a much lower voice.

“But why didn’t you guys bring me along?” she asked, sounding a little hurt.

“I asked you last night,” said Anana.

“I don’t remember.”

“You were in bed.”

“What did I say?”

“‘Hell, no.’”

“Oh,” she laughed, “I was probably talking in my sleep! I was dreaming Tartok was proposing again!” She let out few more high pitched laughs. Her behavior surprised me, because I had assumed her and Tartok were close friends the night we rescued Kavick from the Factory. Now she was purposely trying to antagonize Tartok, which seemed like a
very
bad idea to me.

Kavick whipped his head toward his brother. “You asked her
again
?” he asked in disbelief.

Tartok looked thoroughly
annoyed by the whole thing. I couldn’t help but find his discomfort amusing after everything he had done earlier. Tartok didn’t say anything.

“How many times do you have to hear her say ‘no’ to get it?”