“Fine, but you are going to wear a strap she can hold onto.”
“Fair.”
Keska picked up a rock, and her fingers wove it into a belt two inches wide and long enough to go around Nigel’s barrel.
Nigel stood, and she wove the belt behind his legs and crossed one band in front of his legs, fastening them into a grip point.
“Mama, how do you do that?”
“I had to learn how to do it to escape the lab.”
Caska chuckled.“She can do a lot with her fingertips.She rescued me, made a hole in the wall for us to slip out of, and then made us all the tools we needed.We crossed the country in thermal-repellent jackets, and we got to the road to Aksalla.When someone stopped for us, I took over, citing precedent for foundlings and listing all the resources that we could access.The couple who stopped for us were startled, but they had kids and brought us straight to the peacekeeper offices and walked us inside.”
Keska chuckled.“And that was how we met Salmet and Riko coming back from their cabin vacation.They brought us in, and Caska did the rest.She’s really smart.”
Caska grinned.
“And then we met Ava, and Ava is also really smart.Nigel is also smart.”
Kessie patted her hand.“You are smart, too, Mama.”
“I know, sweetie, but it is a different type of smart that folks don’t see coming.”
She lifted Kessie and put her on Nigel’s back.He crouched a little, and Kessie got settled and gripped the straps.“That’s good.Are you comfortable, Nigel?”
Nigel said, “Your mother is good at assuring my comfort, so yes.Shall we?”
Kessie patted him.“Yes, please.Is this place really big?”
“Really big.We will be back in an hour.”Nigel looked at Keska.“She is safe with me.”
She scratched under his chin.“I know.Have fun.”
He nodded, Kessie grinned, the beast lumbered to the side of the house, and the laughter from Kessie indicated he was putting on the speed.
Ava looked at her.“Did you forget to open the gate?”
“Oops.”
Caska laughed and then said, “Why are you downplaying your intelligence?”
“Because mine doesn’t show up on paper, and I know that from our time at school.”
“You are a master mechanical engineer.”
“But law and finance are so much safer,” Keska said.“I get injured a lot.”
“But you heal.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want Kessie to feel that kind of pain.She deserves a bright life with happiness and joy.She started in joy.I want her to stay there as long as possible.”
The other cars pulled up.
Caska grinned.“Nice dress.”
“My jeans were grubby.I don’t like to hug Kessie when I am wearing shredded metal.”
Ava said, “You don’t feel that you are a worthy parent?”
