Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Forty-Four: Dog Nose

Sarafina filled the glass jug with water and placed it gently on the tray in Eva's outstretched hands with some empty glasses. Her sister looked at the jug with an intense expression, as if it was about to grow tentacles and jump onto the floor. 

'Are you sure you don't want me to carry the tray?' 

Eva gripped the tray tighter. 'I can do it.' 

There was a light summer breeze drifting in through the kitchen door that carried the faint smell of the ocean. The glass in the door still hadn't been replaced, so it was really only an empty aluminium frame. Sarafina knew she'd have to save money to fix it before the summer was over. 

She watched Eva carefully walk towards the door, her eyes locked on the water in the jug. She wondered how much of her ordeal with Gareth she remembered, and how much was an impenetrable sedative-induced haze. Eva still hadn't said anything about it. It was as if she had boxed the memories away and stored them in some long neglected attic in her mind. 

From outside, Sarafina heard a snap and a yelp of pain. She smiled and followed her sister out onto the porch. 

Behind the house was a small patch of grass. Regan stood in the centre of it, holding an extendible baton, which Sarafina had loaned to her. She held the baton negligently as she watched Forester drag himself to his feet. 

'You're afraid of getting hit, so you hesitate.' 

Forester picked up his wooden sword from where it had landed, a few steps away. He massaged his hand, where a red welt was already forming. 

'I wonder why.' 

'When you stop being awful, you won't get hit so much.' 

There was a bruise forming under Forester's eye and his jeans were streaked with grass stains. He scratched the back of his head. 

'You're too fast. I can't get around your guard.' 

Regan's mouth twisted into a sneer. 'Don't be so weak.' 

Sarafina saw Forester preparing to throw back a sarcastic response, and cleared her throat quietly. 'Eva brought out some water for you.' 

Forester looked at the tray, which Eva was carefully sliding onto a table on the porch. His face became an expression of palpable relief as he dropped his wooden sword and jogged up to get a drink. 

Sarafina poured some water into a glass and walked across the grass to Regan. She approached slowly, delicately stepping around the rough patches of dry grass with her bare feet.  

'How are the lessons going?' 

Regan threw the baton onto the grass. 'He doesn't have the drive to be a swordsman.' 

'He practices for two hours every day.' 

'Swinging a sword around on flat ground at imaginary enemies isn't going to teach you to fight. If it was that easy to get good, we'd all be experts.' 

Sarafina looked up at the porch, where Forester was painfully lowering himself into a chair as Eva fussed around him. 

'Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him?' 

'He asked to get stronger. He's been weak for so long, it's become a habit.' 

Sarafina shook her head. 'He's not weak. He's foolhardy and stupid in equal measure, but he's brave.' 

'Admirable qualities in a labrador. Less so in a fighter.' 

Regan accepted the glass of water from Sarafina and drained it quickly. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.