Page 13 of The Hummingbird’s Gift

Her tiny fists pounded at his back. “Uncle Ro, Uncle Ro! I’m right here!”

He turned around. “Where?”

“Right here!”

This game could go on for hours. After a few more rounds, he “found” her and then set her on the ground.

Achak gave him one final pat on the arm. “Consider it,” she whispered.

He would consider it later. Right now, he needed a respite. Concentrating on Nina and May was what he needed.

“OK,” he told the kids. “Stay over there while I get the wood cleared out of the way and then I’ll need two helpers.”

He knew that Nina was watching him closely, but she hadn’t approached, and he wanted to give her time. Hopefully, if she saw how much May trusted him, she would trust him, too.

Together, they restacked the firewood, with a great deal of help from Nina and some more dubious “help” from May. Nina didn’t talk much, but she worked industriously. When they finished, May skipped down to the creek while Nina and Rohahen trailed behind.

The creek ran behind the heart-singer’s home, and Rohahen held May’s hand as she scrambled down the steep, overgrown sides. She wasn’t allowed to visit on her own, but as the water never got more than a foot deep, she was safe playing independently with an adult nearby.

May lept right into the creek, splashing across the smooth stones. Nina shucked off her shoes and entered more cautiously. Rohahen sat to remove his boots and roll up his cuffs, then joined them. The water was cool and fresh, and the round stones massaged the bottoms of his feet.

“So Nina,” he started, “I heard that you managed quite an escape and met my friend Declan.”

“You know Declan?” she asked in surprise.

“He’s one of my best friends. I can take you over to visit him before you go home, if we have enough time before your family comes.”

“Yes, please.” She even had a bit of a smile.

Now, he supposed, was the time to ask if she wanted to share anything with him. He tried to make himself look open and honest. If he were a heart-singer, he could show her that truth, but all he had was body language. “How have you been settling in?”

Nina knelt by the edge of the stream, studying the flurry of tadpoles that swarmed in the shallow water. “Fine. The heart singer’s house is boring, though.”

“Ah, I see.” Definitely not a good fit for the little spitfire. The tribe should consider that before sending any more children there. “Where would you like to stay?”

She shrugged. “Somewhere that I can climb. I need to keep a lookout.”

“For bad guys?”

She gave him a scathing look. “Yeah, and monsters under the bed. No. For scientists and security teams.” He thought the sarcasm wasn’t supposed to start until the teenage years. Clearly, she’d gotten a head start.

“That sounds like an important job,” he agreed. Keeping a look out might allay her fears, though it could also make them worse. “You know that there are already patrols going around the area each day, right? And Geir, he’s the kraken that lives with Declan, can tell if someone doesn’t belong here. You’ll be safe for as long as you’re here.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Listen, I’m not traumatized.” It was adorable hearing her say the mature-sounding word with such disdain, but he would never let her know. “Like, it was scary at first, but mostly it was just boring. We watched TV all the time, and the scientists came in to take blood samples every few days. Sometimes they gave us injections that made us sleepy, and there was one that made you throw up.

“But like, they let us exercise and they let us all stay together. And we all had our jobs, so that we could escape when there was a chance. I can fight, too. And I have useful information.”

“I believe you,” he said. He was endlessly relieved to hear that May had probably been through nothing worse than watching a few hours of television with a bunch of older shifters looking out for her.

While Ro believed that Nina wasn’t as traumatized as he’d feared, she would still need to talk. Since she seemed to feel the need to be grown-up and responsible, maybe he could get her to open up this way. “Could you share some of that useful information with me? I’m sure it would be helpful to the people who are trying to shut the operation down.”

Nina gave him a dubious look. “Do you have a pen?”

“Um, no? I could find one if you think we need it.” He had no idea what was going on, but part of listening was letting her lead the conversation.

She drew herself up to her full height of perhaps four and a half feet. “Well, if I’m doing an interview, you’ll need to record it, right?”

“Ah, you’re entirely right. Could I use my phone, or would a pen and paper be better?” He wasn’t sure if it was ethical to record her, but he figured he could delete it later.