“Are you following me, twinkle toes?”
“Well, I was trying to, but then you went all crop circle on me.”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who asked you to follow me. Oh, and by the way, you might want to consider being a bit daintier in your surveillance techniques. You were like a damn rhinoceros clomping through the forest.”
“I was not that loud. Why are you and Dale sneaking off all the time?”
“That’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“Well, I need to know,” Kenzie whined. I half expected her to stomp her foot in protest. “It’s called the Dork Quad, Kyle, not the Dork Duo.”
I chuckled at that. She had a point. Dale and I had already agreed that if we found the idol, it would be used in the first elimination ceremony for whoever of the four of us needed it.
“I know what you’re doing,” she whispered. “And I can help.”
“Fine. If you can keep up,” I said, and started running. I was tall, so my strides were long and sprightly. I expected to be leaps and bounds in front of Kenzie, but when I checked on her progress, she was right up there with me. Damn, she was speedy for someone with short little Corgi legs. After a couple of minutes, I came to a stop, exhausted. Kenzie stopped too, barely winded.
“Dang, girl, you’ve got wheels,” I said, panting.
“I jog five miles a day. You’re not losing me.”
“I wasn’t trying to,” I said, pointing out Dale.
“Oh,” she said, seeming surprised.
I grinned. We walked up to Dale, and in answer to the question in his eyes I said, “Sorry, she scares me.”
He scanned Kenzie cynically before raising his shoulders in defeat. “This is a top secret mission, Kenzie.”
“I know. You can trust me. We’re on the same side, remember?”
Dale leaned in, motioned for Kenzie and me to do the same, and started talking extra quietly. “Okay, so the conditions are sub-optimal and we don’t have the bandwidth for more than one search, but I really do believe we’re in the right quadrant, so let’s make quick work of it.”
Kenzie looked more confused than I did. “What did he just say?” she whispered.
“You’re asking me? I don’t speak nerd.”
“That tree, over there,” Dale sighed, as if dealing with us idiots was a real chore.
“Couldn’t you have just said that in the first place?”
“I did.”
I climbed the tree while Kenzie played lookout. Dale was guiding me.
“See that indentation in the wood?”
“Yeah.”
“In there.”
I put my hand in, and – damn, that dorky little dude called it! I pulled out the wrapped bundle and we all did a silent cheer as I climbed back down. I handed the idol to Dale, who promptly shoved the little lifesaver down the front of his pants.
“Dale, I’m not sure if you have the swag to pull off a package of that size.”
“Well, Kyle, I would have given it to you, but I didn’t think there would be any room with that sock you’ve got shoved in there.”
My eyes widened in surprise, and I laughed at his somewhat awkward diss. I would have liked more confidence in his delivery, but it was an excellent start to his training. A feeling of intense pride bubbled up inside me, much like, I assumed, parents who watch their baby take his first wobbly steps out into the world. “Well played, sir.”
