The Bridge to Tanasi

Chapter 18

Tali turned away from the staircase, rubbing at her wrist. She looked up at Yamal, who was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed.

"That was reckless," he said.

She winced. "I know."

He glanced down at her sore wrist. "I was going to flick you to get back at you, but I guess we're already even."

She stared at him for a moment, blinking, before it occurred to her what he was talking about. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kick you that hard."

His stance relaxed a bit, though his expression was still hard. "I know you didn't, but it still hurt."

Biting her lip, she reached up and pulled out a lock of hair, wrapping it around her finger. "I'm sorry. I let my temper get away with me again."

"You already said you were sorry."

"But you're still mad."

Yamal shook his head. "I'm not mad, just concerned. If you go rushing off like that every time you think you have a clue to finding your cousin, you might end up in bigger trouble than a twisted wrist."

"I know. I'm sorry."

The bushy brows on his forehead scrunched together. "That's three times."

"What?"

"Why do you apologize so much?" he asked. "You only offended me once."

Tali opened her mouth to answer, then left it open, at a loss for words. "Is it strange to apologize more than once?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he said. "In fact, if I didn't know you weren't from here, I would have thought you were being rude."

"Oh." She supposed it was a cultural thing.

He relaxed completely. "Let's get back to Juni," he said, taking her by her good wrist and leading her back to their table. "And we can tell her what you found out together."

"Together?" Tali asked.

A smile crept onto his face, and he ducked his head a bit. "I might have been eavesdropping a bit."

Tali couldn't help it; she chuckled. When they got back to the table, she was a little surprised to see that Juni was far less concerned than Yamal had been. She had swung her legs up out of the pit and tucked them neatly to the side, lounging on one arm as she picked up olive-sized tarts off a dish and popped them into her mouth, one at a time.

"Dessert came while you two were off assaulting that stranger," she said, her mouth still full. "I took the liberty of helping myself to my portion while you were gone."

Yamal eyed the half-empty serving dish. "I'd say you helped yourself to more than your portion."

She shrugged and snatched another tart off the plate. "So what did you find out?" she asked, tossing the tart in the air and catching it in her mouth.

"Yes, it was my purse, no, he wasn't going to sell it to me, yes, it was one of the Chief's men," Tali said all in one breath. "And that he bought it at a place called the 'Bridgeless Green,' where—"

"Where the bridge-crossers stay while they wait to cross the bridge," Juni finished for her.

"How did you know that?"

"She's Juni. She knows everything," Yamal said, although Tali was sure she could detect a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Juni smirked. "You're catching on."

"Why didn't you say something, then, if you already knew?" Tali asked, her fingernails digging into her palms. "You could have saved me a lot of trouble."