broken tools-and taken Jamie with him.
"You tired?" Ian asked.
I realized I was rubbing at my eyes. "Not really."
"Still not sleeping well?"
"It's too quiet."
"I could sleep with you-Oh, calm down, Melanie. You know what I meant."
Ian always noticed when Melanie's antagonism made me cringe.
"I thought they were going to be back today," I challenged.
"You're right. I guess there's no need for rearranging."
I sighed.
"Maybe you should take the afternoon off."
"Don't be silly," I told him. "I've got plenty of energy for work."
He grinned as though I'd said something that pleased him. Something he'd been hoping I would say.
"Good. I could use some help with a project."
"What's the project?"
"I'll show you-you finished there?"
I nodded.
He took my hand as he led me out of the kitchen. Again, this was so common that Melanie barely protested.
"Why are we going this way?" The eastern field did not need attention. We'd been part of the group that had irrigated it this morning.
Ian didn't answer. He was still grinning.
He led me down the eastern tunnel, past the field and into the corridor that led to only one place. As soon as we were in the tunnel, I could hear voices echoing and a sporadic thud, thud that it took me a moment to place. The stale, bitter sulfur odor helped link the sound to the memory.
"Ian, I'm not in the mood."
"You said you had plenty of energy."
"To work. Not to play soccer."
"But Lily and Wes will be really disappointed. I promised them a game of two-on-two. They worked so hard this morning to free up the afternoon..."
"Don't try to make me feel guilty," I said as we rounded the last curve. I could see the blue light of several lamps, shadows flitting in front of them.
"Isn't it working?" he teased. "C'mon, Wanda. It will be good for you."
He pulled me into the low-ceilinged game room, where Lily and Wes were passing the ball back and forth across the length of the field.
"Hey, Wanda. Hey, Ian," Lily called to us.
"This one's mine, O'Shea," Wes warned him.
"You're not going to let me lose to Wes, are you?" Ian murmured.
"You could beat them alone."
"It would still be a forfeit. I'd never live it down."
I sighed. "Fine. Fine. Be that way."
Ian hugged me with what Melanie thought was unnecessary enthusiasm. "You're my very favorite person in the known universe."
"Thanks," I muttered dryly.
"Ready to be humiliated, Wanda?" Wes taunted. "You may have taken the planet, but you're losing this game."
Ian laughed, but I didn't respond. The joke made me uneasy. How could Wes make a joke about that? Humans were always surprising me.
Melanie included. She'd been in just as miserable a mood as I was, but now she was suddenly excited.
We didn't get to play last time, she explained. I could feel her yearning to run-to run for pleasure rather than in fear. Running was something she used to love. Doing nothing won't get them home any faster. A distraction might be nice. She was already thinking strategy, sizing up our opponents.
"Do you know the rules?" Lily asked me.
I nodded. "I remember them."
Absently, I bent my leg at the knee and grabbed my ankle behind me, pulling it to stretch out the muscles. It was a familiar position to my body. I stretched the other leg and was pleased that it felt whole. The bruise on the back of my thigh was faded yellow, almost gone. My side felt fine, which made me think that my rib had never really been broken.
I'd seen my face while I was cleaning mirrors two weeks ago. The scar forming on my cheek was dark red and as big as the palm of my hand, with a dozen jagged points around the edges. It bothered Melanie more than it did me.
"I'll take the goal," Ian told me, while Lily fell back and Wes paced beside the ball. A mismatch. Melanie liked this. Competition appealed to her.
From the moment the game started-Wes kicking the ball back to Lily and then sprinting ahead to get around me for her pass-there was very little time to think. Only to react and to feel. See Lily shift her body, measure the direction this would send the ball. Cut Wes off-ah, but he was surprised by how fast I was-launch the ball to Ian and move up the field. Lily was playing too far forward. I raced her to the lantern goalpost and won. Ian aimed the pass perfectly, and I scored the first goal.
It felt good: the stretch and pull of