See Me

CHAPTER EIGHT

I TOOK A LONG NAP back in our room while Cassidy found our parents and took them to the falls. I wondered if they’d had the pleasure of meeting Rock yet.

Doubtful.

Several hours later I dragged myself from the soft bed, still groggy. I’d been more tired than I thought. Sounds of people talking and moving came from outside, so it must have been near the end of the workday.

I brushed my hair and teeth. Using the makeshift restroom was not the most enjoyable experience of my life. There were just some things about village life I didn’t think I’d ever get used to.

Cheers sounded from the field as I left my room. I walked out to find a friendly game of what appeared to be soccer. Yes! I looked around for McKale, but he hadn’t come down from work. Joy filled me as I found my family and stood with them, watching the game. The ball was well-crafted brown leather that had been stuffed and stitched firm.

Unlike the version of soccer I knew, they were allowed to touch the ball if it was in the air—a swipe of the hand to knock it down and keep it in play. But it still involved dribbling the ball by foot, passing, and kicking it into a goal, which was made of rock pillars. I was itching to get in on the action, so when the players broke for water, Cassidy and I approached the leader. He was young, like McKale, with only a small bit of blond facial hair.

“Excuse me, sir?”

He looked up, wiping his brow with a cloth.

“Robyn, isn’t it? The name’s Keefe. What can I do for ye?”

“Hi, Keefe. Um, my sister and I were wondering if we might be able to play?”

His eyebrows went up in surprise and he didn’t answer.

“I mean, unless you think we’re at an unfair advantage because of our height,” I added.

He chuckled, clearly amused and further surprised. “Please don’t take offense, miss, but ‘tis not your height that worries me. I fear ye are the one at a disadvantage because yer…”

He waved his hands up and down at me.

Huh? I’m what?

“A lass!” he sputtered.

What the crap? Okay, this gender thing was getting old. Cass planted both hands on her hips and gave me the stink eye as if to say, “Are you going to let him get away with that?”

I kept my face calm, while petting the hackles on my inner-feminist. She’d actually been a good sport about everything up until that moment. Now all I wanted was a chance to make him eat those words. Cassidy and I shared a conspiratorial smile.

“Where we come from girls play, too,” I told him. “Many of the girls are as good as the men.”

“Or better,” Cass added.

Keefe was plainly trying to hold back a condescending smile. A small crowd of sweaty players gathered around us.

“Just for fun, give us a chance. Please,” I begged. “We promise not to be upset by the outcome. We can be on different teams to make it fair. You just have to make us one promise.”

“Oh, yeah?” Keefe asked, setting his hands on his hips. “And wha’s that?”

“Not to go easy on us because we’re girls.” I grinned and the whole group of little guys cracked up laughing. Keefe grabbed his waist, apparently getting a stitch in his side.

“Alright, then, misses. If ye insist.”

Cassidy and I gave each other a high five, and took our shoes off since everyone else was playing barefoot. I was sure Keefe was only letting us play because he didn’t want to offend Brogan’s guests and McKale’s betrothed, but the reason didn’t matter to me. I simply wanted to stretch my muscles and play something I knew I could win.

We took our places, opposing teams facing each other. One of the guys on the sideline whistled and we were off. The players ran slower than me because of their shorter legs, but they were a very rough and physical group, grabbing and pushing. There was no ref throwing penalty flags out here, that’s for sure.

It didn’t take long to figure out that my team wasn’t going to pass the ball my direction, even though I was open. Nobody bothered covering me. Cassidy stood on the other end of the playing field and lifted her arms in frustration, also not being allowed to play. We were going to have to take this game into our own hands.

Cassidy’s team had a strong offensive scorer named Mick who could get through our defenders too easily. No problem. I could do offense or defense. I hung back near the goal since we had no goalies, and the next time Mick broke through our defense, I was there.

I watched his feet dribble for a second to figure out his pattern, and then I ghosted in and stole it away.

“Hey, now!” I heard him shout, and people watching from the sidelines laughed. I turned back to Mick.

“You want it back?” I taunted with a grin. “Come get it.”

He came at me and I feinted to the left, dribbling around him on the right. I took off amid cheers, making my way through the other team with too much ease. They wouldn’t get physical with me like they would with one another. Instead of shooting I passed it to my teammate who ran parallel to me on the other side of the field. It was a perfect set-up, and he kicked a clean shot into the goal.

It might be cliché to say, “the crowd went wild,” but they did. Especially the women. They acted like they’d never been so entertained. I jogged to the middle of the field where the players were converging.

“You guys let me through too easily,” I scolded the other team. “Just treat me like you treat each other. You’re not gonna hurt me. I’m a big girl.”

Some smiled and chuckled, but a few still looked uneasy. Cassidy gave me an overdramatized wink that made me snort.

Her team started this time, and low and behold, somebody actually passed it to her. She and I went head-to-head all the time at home, and I could almost always take her, but she was fiercer when she had an audience. The fact that there were no rules and we were both competitive did not bode well. We became locked in a battle for the ball, which included scratching, elbowing, and cussing on Cassidy’s part. There would be cuts on our shins from each other’s toenails, and major bruising. At one point I had the ball and when I turned to dribble away she tripped me, and then we were at it again. The crowd was clapping in sync and chanting, “Ma-son Girls! Ma-son Girls!”

Distracted momentarily by the chant, Cassidy’s attention wavered and I tugged the ball from between her feet with my heel. I passed it to one of my teammates who shot a beautiful long-distance goal. After throwing my arms up and cheering, I collapsed in a heap on the ground with Cass next to me, both of us laughing.

“You need to cut your toenails!” I complained.

“You’re one to talk, bigfoot!” We slapped at each other for another few seconds before it was time to get up and reconvene with our teammates.

After another few exhausting rounds, my team won. Everyone had picked up on my and Cassidy’s high-fiving; they were happening everywhere I turned, including among the spectators. Mom and Dad were wooting on the sideline.

I found McKale watching from the end of a table where he leaned back with a wooden cup in his hand. He was just about the only person not standing. He watched me with an expression I couldn’t discern, but I wanted to figure out. Once I zoned in on him, everything else faded and my feet brought me to his side. I sat down, keeping a little distance between us in case I stank. He sipped his drink.

“Water,” he said. “Ye thirsty?” I smiled at how he pronounced it as “tirsty.” I liked that he was offering to share a cup.

“Please,” I said. He handed me the cup and I sipped, trying not to drink all of it.

“Go on then, finish it,” he told me.

“Thanks.” I drank it and set the cup down.

He opened his mouth to speak again just as a hot sizzle of magic blasted us from the nearby long grasses. A collective gasp rose up, followed by silence while we all stared at the field. All the water I’d just drank threatened to come back up. McKale had gone still and pale as he eyed the air with apparent fascination and dread.

A full minute passed and the portal didn’t open. Two of the little men from the game ran out into the field to check it over. Nobody moved or spoke until the guys shook their heads and shrugged, coming back to the clearing.

“What was that?” I whispered.

McKale turned back around, stiff. “It happens sometimes. False alarms. Perhaps the Fae guard of the realm got too close to the portal.”

“Oh,” I breathed. My heart rate was still too fast.

We sat in awkward silence and I wondered if he was thinking of Khalistah like I was. Hoping she’d never return even though she’d been so “nice” to him growing up. McKale, more relaxed now, pointed to where we’d played the game and said, “Ye’re good.”

My nerves finally began to settle as I trusted that nobody was coming out of that portal. “Thanks. I played a similar game at home. Do you ever play?”

“On occasion. With the Clour lads.”

Ah. Maybe Cassidy had been right with her “reindeer games” analogy.

“We should play sometime. You, the Clour, Cass, and me. It’d be fun.”

A sudden glint lit up in his eyes. “Aye. If yer up for it. Tho’ the lads are rough.”

“You’d be surprised what we can handle,” I said.

He didn’t say anything for a minute, and I wondered if he’d been turned off watching his future mate fight for the ball like a boy. I hoped not, because I wasn’t willing to change that particular part of myself.

“This evening,” he stated.

I must have looked confused, because he clarified.

“After supper, if ye’d still like to play we can go to Clour land.” His voice was questioning and hesitant. Nervous.

“Sure.” I tried tone down my overly-eager grin. “That’d be great.”

Cassidy would be beyond thrilled.

McKale peered down at his feet and smiled to himself.