The Knife Thrower

Chapter 17

I slowly walk along the path, taking in the peaceful landscape. It is still early, the sun barely rising over the horizon. I hug myself closer, wishing I had not forgotten my jacket, for this late April morning is chilly. The sky is cloudless and a beautiful shade of dusty pink. Grey buildings rise high over either side of me, most crumbling due to age and extreme sun stroke, but some are still in liveable shape. Though people live in the broken houses anyway, but not from choice.

Izzy and Jay are still in bed, but I left them a note. They'll just take the bus to school and I'll meet them there. I turn round a street corner and hear faint laughter. Laughter? I must be mistaken. No one in this area is cheerful and care-free. Besides, who could be up this early in the morning and be happy about it? I know I'm not. I just couldn't sleep any longer and needed to clear my head. Wow, never thought I would say that before.

I walk closer to the sound, sure now I had not imagined it. It sounds like the laugh of a little girl. Causiously I creep forward, alert for the slightest sign of danger. I can hear the sound clearer now, coming from a house just ahead of me. I pause behind a lamp post with a broken bulb and peer round it. In the front yard of a stable-looking house just ahead of me stands a girl and a boy. The girl looks to be about 10 years old with big brown eyes that shine against her cream complexion. She is wearing school uniform. Her brown hair has been braided into two plaits on either side of her head, which go just past her shoulders. She is laughing at the boy in front of her who has his back to me.

He is tall with broad shoulders and dark hair. His blue jeans and greeny-bluey shirt hide a tanned and muscled body. He looks a bit older than myself, probably about twenty years old, but I can't be certain. So not the boy... the man. He looks familiar. He dives at the little girl, arms outstretched and she shrieks in delight, dancing away to keep out of his grasp. She trips over a shrub and falls backward. The man swiftly reaches out and grabs hold of her waist to catch her, picks her up and swings her onto his shoulder. Good thing her skirt reaches her knees and she is wearing leggings.

The girl cries out in complaint but is laughing. She bangs her small, delicate fists against his back but he holds her steady. I start walking forward again, going quietly so they don't notice me. It is sweet, to see them having so much fun. We see little of that here.

As if sensing me the man turns around and puts the little girl back on the floor. She skips away grinning, back into the small house. I turn my attention to the man and stop mid-step. He is staring straight back at me, hair ruffled and face flushed from the exertion, but otherwise the same. Blake Deavane.

I force myself to keep walking and he walks over to me. My heart speeds up though I don't know why and I put a nuteral expression on my face. I stop when he reaches me and look up at him. He gives me a smile and we stare at the house. A comfortable silence washes over us as we watch the little girl come running back out again, holding a school bag. She runs up to us and looks at me with big, curious eyes but stands slightly behind Blake.

"Who is this?" she asks Blake, her accent faintly American too. She looks at me again and drops her gaze to the floor. Blake looks from me to the little girl, obvious adoration in his eyes.

"This is Kyra Avedel." He tells her and looks back at me.

"This is my little sister Taylor. She is in year six." She looks at me shyly but says nothing. I crouch down so I am on her level.

"Nice to meet you. Do you know my sister Izzy? She is also in year six." I say gently, giving her a friendly smile. She looks at me again and gives me a quick, small smile back. She nods her head but doesn't say anything. I stand back up to see Blake looking at me funny.

"What?" I ask, keeping his gaze.

"Just you were so friendly and approachable." He teases me with mock shock and mock surprise. His eyes are laughing and he is trying very hard not to smile. I huff and roll my eyes, tilting out my chin.

"I can be civilised when I want to be." I say stubbornly and he starts laughing. I feign a hurt look and lightly shove his shoulder. Taylor looks up at us with her big eyes and she too is smiling. She inches a little closer to me, a little further into the open. She takes Blakes hand and gives it a squeeze, before walking down the path. He watches her for a moment then comes over to my left side.

"We are going to school, would you like to come?" He asks me and before I can refuse starts walking forward. After a pause I follow him, walking in his stride. We watch Taylor walking along ahead of us, humming a tune to herself.

"You were quite impressive last night, no one really saw that coming." Blake starts talking and I am secretly relieved. I had no idea what to say.

"Well, I did what had to be done. What happened when I left?" I try to keep him talking but I am actually curious to find out what went down. He laughs at the memory and starts telling me this long story of how Arnold was very upset and everyone else quite shaken. Arnold started yelling at the other soldiers and students because they didn't defend him. Then two soldiers walked out as well, declaring that 'uncool' and three of the girls started crying. Arnold tried to regain order but no one would listen to him. So he eventually just dismissed them early.

I laugh along with him, enjoying the thought of Arnold losing all control. Hope I never run into him again. We are silent for a while, both enraptured in our own thoughts.

"So where did you learn to fight like that?" He asks, breaking the silence. I bite my lip, not sbite ow much to say. But now they know I can fight, so it doesn't really matter where I learnt to do so.

"A family friend taught me." I say carefully. I can feel Blakes intense gaze watching me so I change the subject.

"I didn't know you lived around here. I assumed you would live in the town."

"Why would you assume that?" He frowns and I shrug. "Just cause I've never seen you round here before and well... your are new."

Now it's his turn to shrug. "Honestly, we don't live around here. Taylor and I are staying with our Aunt at the moment. Father is living at home in town though."

"Oh. Why are you living here when your father is in town?" He looks uncomfortable and does not answer me straight away. But I'm not backing down, I want to know.

"Well... our father wanted us to stay out here for a while, so he can concentrate on his work. Our Aunt Elinora offered that we stay with her." His straight ahead stare signals the end of that conversation. Whatever, I'll leave him to his privet life. I know I don't want anyone poking around in mine. We walk in silence and I look once again at the landscape.

By now the sun has risen halfway and the sky is a dazzling assortment of pink, yellow and blue colours mixing with soft clouds. There is little greenery in Relang, so the ground is composed of hard rock, yellow sand and brown dirt. I kick at a loose pebble with the toe of my boot, sending it flying. A little grey lizard scuttles around on the floor, running away when we get too close. We climb a small hill and there, half a block away at the bottom is the school building. I sigh. What I'm gonna do about the metal detector today?

I glance over to Blake, wondering if he knows what happened... yesterday. Wow, it seems like it was forever ago. He looks back at me and gives me a playful wink. Something tells me he isn't always this open, isn't always this friendly. I look away again, hoping my thoughts are not being shown on my face. As we get closer, he stops and so do I.

He looks at me for a long time and I squirm uncomfortably, but manage to keep eye contact. He leans close to my face, his mouth near my ear. I hold my breath.

"I wish you good luck Kyra. Hope you find someone else who is willing to carry in your knife." He says in a soft whisper, voice deep and bemused. He leans back and gives me a smirk. I can't help but smile back. I mean, who would carry my knife through a metal detector and not rat me out? He turns around and walks towards the grounds. I stay where I am and watch him go. He is so strange. Different, like he knows something I don't. He doesn't look at me like I'm scary or a freak. No, he looks at me with admiration and... interest.

I shake my head. Not possible. I must be reading to much into this. I push all thoughts of Blake Deavane out of my head. I continue walking, but not towards the school. There is something else I need to do first.