Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

41. Karou

 I circled Uncle Graham on the mat, trying to predict when he was going to make his move. Avila, sitting on the edge of the mat, was dead serious, observing the two of us with a blank expression and watchful eyes.

I was pleased with how well she was settling in. After three days, she was operating like one of my blood relatives, easily navigating the twisting and confusing halls of the mansion that was my house. In fact, I had a sneaking suspicion that she knew the layout of my own house better than me, judging by how quickly she had found me while playing hide and seek, which had been her first suggestion after I had given her the tour. But I still knew the location of all the secret passageways, so those were going to be my next surprise for her. Later. When it was very dark and we had only our wands to light the way. And the creep factor was significantly ratcheted up the spook scale.

I saw a small quirk at the corner of Avila's mouth, and brought my concentration back just in time to duck underneath Uncle Graham's attack. I tried to fight back, but I was caught off guard and he had the upper hand, and I was on the floor in a matter of seconds.

"That's four out of five, Poppet," he laughed, using my family's pet name for me. "You lose."

"Let me go!" I said, wiggling vigorously under his elbow. I growled in frustration when I realized I was stuck, and increased my wriggling level from worm to snake. I was perfectly fine when it came to trading blows and inflicting damage, but I was worse than useless at martial arts. I just couldn't keep my concentration for long enough. "All or nothing!" I cried in desperation. My pride would never recover.

"Why don't we let Avila have a turn on the mat?" Uncle Graham suggested, letting me up off the floor.

"Whatever," I muttered, dusting myself off and trading places with Avila. I slumped in the chair, watching them bow and begin to circle.

The more I watched Avila, the more I realized that she actually knew what she was doing. Her concentration never wavered, though her eyes were darting everywhere, looking, seeing, calculating, assessing. I watched in surprise as, almost faster than I could see, Avila snapped out her leg, connecting with my uncle's arm as he moved to block the blow. She twisted out of the way before he could grab her and they resumed their circular pacing.

As I watched her successive attempts to attack my uncle, it slowly occurred to me what Avila was actually doing: she wasn't trying to hurt him. She wasn't even really trying to hit him at this point. With each new move my friend tried, and each successive block and counterattack my uncle made, I could see her eyes move and shift and squint ever so slightly as she absorbed the new information my uncle was feeding her.

No, my friend wasn't trying to hurt my uncle. She was evaluating him.

Just as I came to this revelation, the battle began for real. Uncle Graham whipped his arm out. Avila leaned back, grabbing and pulling just above the elbow. My uncle stumbled forward, and Avila threw her leg, connecting with his back. Uncle Graham fell forward and hit his knees. They both froze.

I applauded, leaping off my chair and running towards them. "Jellybean, that was fantastic!" I yelled, hugging her tightly. It took a minute for her to unstiffen from combat, but she hugged me back lightly. "How did you do that?"

"The girl's attention span isn't nearly as hopeless as yours, K," Uncle Graham replied, getting up slowly. "You did well, Avila," he said seriously, holding his hand out to shake.

Avila shook it. "Thank you sir. I've had a lot of practice."

My uncle nodded, still appraising her with a blank face. "I can tell." After a moment of awkward silence, he cleared his throat. "Since I haven't gotten anything through this poppet's rock hard skull," he said, wrapping an arm around my neck and rubbing his knuckles into my head with a smile, "maybe you'll be able to teach her something I can't."