“But who would come?” Only after my words fall out do I notice the smile riding up her face. She is as sly as the letteru, always sneaking in afterq.
Slowly, I lift one foot, then the other. I wobble to one side and catch myself.
Noemi helps me pull the bicycle back to center. “Steady, August.”
“You...namedthe safety?”
“A name means respect. If you’re going to put your life into someone’s hands, best start off on the right foot.”
I topple to one side again, and Noemi neatly catches me. “Or the left.”
“Ah. You chose August because it means ‘respected.’”
“No, I chose it because it’s the name of a month, the most powerful month on the calendar. When August comes around, it brings a wrath hot enough to jerky the cows while they’re standing in the fields.”
“July’s not so balmy either.”
She lifts an eyebrow so high, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could unhook it and throw it like a lightning bolt.
“August, be easy on me.” I lift my feet again, and let gravity coax me down the incline. My toes touch down a few times, but soon, I am rolling! “I’m doing it, Noemi! I’m coasting!”
“That’s ’cause I’m still holding you, you noodle.”
“Well, let go!”
She cuts me loose, and the bicycle picks up speed.
August bobs one direction and then the other, but I keep my grip fused to the horns. A flock of chickens scatters before mewith panicked squawks. And then I’m hurling down the road, fast as a spit seed. Before I hit anything, like the pavement, I squeeze the brake, and the contraption comes to a shaky stop.
I set down my anchors, and Noemi comes up behind me. “Did you see that?” I ask breathlessly. “I was flying.”
“You barely went ten yards.” She brushes a hand toward me, meaningget off.
“August, you are hot enough to jerky the cows.” I roll the bicycle back to the work shed, and then Noemi climbs aboard. After scooting along with her toes and then coasting a few times, her feet find the pedals, and she’s pumping her way back toward the house. She is a natural.
She disappears around a curve. When she doesn’t return, I work my way back toward the house after her.
My step slows when I reach the courtyard. Noemi stands with the bicycle forming a fence of sorts between her and the Payne women. Judging by Caroline’s white-lipped scowl, August has brought a wrath after all.
Thirteen
The sun cowers in the west, and despite my exertions, the air suddenly feels too brittle against my skin. Mrs. Payne’s skirted coat looks hastily shrugged on, judging by how its collar traps her loose hair.
“It was bad enough that you gave my maid my hat, but now you’re giving this uppity sass-mouthed nigra my bicycle?” Caroline’s face begins to blotch, even though she is the only one not wearing a coat.
“We’re only lending the bicycle. Do be reasonable, Caroline. You wanted to give it away.”
“If I had known it was going to her, I would never have given it up.”
Noemi squeezes the handlebars, her knuckles bunching in her black leather gloves. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t wish to make trouble.” With her head bowed, it’s hard to tell that Noemi is the tallest of the three.
“I said you can have it, and a lady is only as good as her word.” Mrs. Payne’s blue eyes cock like a pair of pistols.
The moment holds an outraged breath. Caroline’s scornful expression has set in her face like a fly in the aspic. Digging it out would only make it worse.
Noemi grinds her gaze into the dirt. “I’d be happy to pay for it.”
We all gape at her.
