Call Spirits in Your Past **Book Two**

Chapter 18 (Thursday)

Dryda's bandaged hands didn't really hurt, but they did itch like crazy. This morning, Alura had put some strange, goopy ointment on them to prevent infection, Kwayo laughing at Dryda's face until Alura reminded him he lay bedridden, and she only had blistered hands.

Dryda hadn't bothered to explain that her scrapes weren't the reason for his laughing. The ointment's scent assailed her like rancid milk, wrinkling her nose, and causing a branch to sprout out of one side of her face. With her short hair it stuck out like a flower in midwinter, but apparently only Kwayo noticed it. And laughed.

Dryda tried humming instead of scratching her hands, rubbing a towel across the silvery plate she held. Erique--with two spiky lizards on his arm--handed her another, and she took it carefully. The cloth wrapped around her palms made it hard to hold things, and she'd already dropped one plate. Fortunately it'd been one of the wooden ones, but Erique had to wash it again because one of his spike lizards waddled across it, leaving dirty footprints.

Dryda placed the first plate in the cupboard, starting a new pile, then rubbed the towel across the other one. Erique and his younger brother, Mateo, burst into giggles over something in the tub of water. She bit her lip, wishing she'd been assigned to clearing the table with Kessa and Ella instead of this. She fit...out of place here. Erique and Mateo were both younger than her, so she had to be the responsible one. Yet she was the one who dropped plates. And stacked them in the cupboard, despite not knowing if they belonged there.

The dining hall's door opened, and a pair of adults strode in. Dryda briefly glanced over their dark clothing, not knowing their names. About the only adults she knew were Mrs. Aterak's brother and the X's--Ximena and Xander--and that their mom was Alura.

She rubbed the scratchy towel over the plate in her hands, even though she'd dried it already, for fear they'd catch her putting the plate in the wrong cupboard. Erique handed her a cup, so she started drying that, holding the plate awkwardly in her fingers. She eyed the adults, and when they turned away she slipped the plate into the cupboard.

"Hey, Azrian!" Erique shouted. Dryda froze, her hand halfway back from the cupboard. "If you do the rest of these dishes for me, I'll give you my dessert tonight!"

Dryda quickly pulled her hand back and kept drying the cup. Pale, and skinny, it might have been the one Ana had used for lunch.

Azrian--apparently he was the shorter one, with long hair--scoffed. "I don't want your dessert, Erique. It's bad for my health."

"Aww," Erique complained. "You haven't had to do the dishes since you turned fifteen."

The other guy frowned at her and Dryda turned away, so she didn't catch Azrian's expression. But it silenced Erique.

"What are you guys doing?" Mateo asked.

"Grabbing some chairs," the other guy said. "We're having a meeting."

"Ooh," Mateo said. "Can I come?"

Azrian laughed. "I don't think you want to. They're pretty boring."

"So is doing dishes," Mateo pouted.

The pair of them left, and Dryda put the dried cup in the cupboard, peering over at the sudsy tub of water. "Are there any more?" she asked.

Mateo dunked his face in the water and swished his hands about, splashing water onto the ground. He reemerged with suds covering most of his face, and Erique laughed. "You look like Uncle Barey!"

Dryda had no idea who Uncle Barey was. But Erique dunked Mateo back in the water, so she silently set the drying towel in the cupboard, closed it, then walked away.