The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 14.4

They polished off the ice cream in record time, Marie and Ford engaging in a half-playful struggle over the last spoonful. Sabrina watched the siblings, feeling a little wistful at thoughts of her own brother, and wondered why she found their presence so comforting. Maybe because it distracted her, she thought, though Tristan was doing a good enough job of that. She grabbed him again as he tried to jump onto the table, where he could smell the ice cream, and pulled him into her lap. He protested, squirming a little, but began to purr. He'd missed her, she knew.

"How long has it been for him?" she asked Ford quietly.

Ford let Marie have the spoon, making it obvious her victory was entirely his decision, and glanced warily at the cat. "Two or three days. I left a note for the petsitter. Rudolf learned how to imitate your handwriting."

Sabrina made a mental note to see what she could do about erasing that particular bit of programming. "Thanks. I wouldn't want her to worry."

"You'll probably want to call her when you go back to pack up everything else," Ford said. "That is...if you're staying?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I...I guess it depends on Scotty. And...I shouldn't abandon my great-aunt. We're all the family she has. It wouldn't be right."

"There's nothing to stop you visiting her," Ford pointed out. "Marie! Stop that!"

Marie was teasing Tristan with her spoon, which still had a drop of ice cream on it. "Just a little bit won't hurt him!"

"Marie," Ford said sharply. "Sabrina said no."

Marie subsided instantly, casting a mutinous glance at her brother. He said, "Now, go clean up the mess like you promised, and then you're to go back to your tutor, and this evening you can have your present, if you've been good!"

"Ford!" she whined. "You said after I cleaned up! I don't want to go to lessons!"

"Why not?" he asked.

"They're boring!"

"Boring?" Ford frowned. "All of it, or just some?"

"All of it," Marie said petulantly. "We just sit there and watch things and read things, stuck inside. It's no fun!"

"Well, nobody ever said being a princess was fun," Ford told her, but with a sympathetic grin.

"You sound like Kashmia!" Marie flung at him.

"Ouch!" Ford put a hand to his chest. "The killing blow, Marie! Go clean up and be good, and I'll see what I can do, all right?"

"They won't let you do anything," Marie said. "They say if it was good enough for all my brothers and sisters, it's good enough for me!"

"But is it bad enough for a bad girl like you, brat?" Ford grinned. "You underestimate me. Go on, now."

Marie stomped over to the counter and made as much noise as possible putting the dishes into the cleaning unit. "I want to stay and play with the cat!"

"Marie," Sabrina said, "after your lessons you can come back and play with him all you want, all right? But I'm going to get in enough trouble as it is, for sneaking off with you earlier. I don't want your mother to be any more mad at me."

Marie heaved an exaggerated sigh, but she seemed to accept Sabrina's reasoning. "Okay. I'll go to my stupid old lessons. But I think you're both mean!" She stomped out of the apartment.

Sabrina bit her tongue to stop her comment from tumbling out of her mouth. She was a new part of this family; it wasn't her place to make a fuss about an obviously bright child who was bored with her lessons. Ford gazed abstractedly after his sister for a moment, then said, "It wasn't this bad last time I was here. Something needs to be done." He sighed. "She needs some younger, more inventive teachers. And some other children to be with, besides Malick. I'd like to see her in the Palace City school, but last time I suggested it, Kashmia went into her deadly quiet routine and I had to drop it."