Outfoxed (The Fox Witch #1) - R.J. Blain Page 0,41

once before he disarmed me.

Victory wasn’t mine, but I left the spar proud of the little I had achieved.

“Stretch and catch your breath, Jade.” Batbayar waited until I obeyed. “What did you learn that time?”

Maria held up her hand, and after a moment, the rest of the students followed her example. Batbayar considered the students, then said, “Freddy, tell us what you learned.”

“She’s beautiful.”

Puzzled, I continued stretching and regarded the child with interest, as he usually displayed his temper long before he complimented somebody.

“She is. What about that spar made you recognize this?”

“You know how when it rains really hard during a storm and the water runs down a hill while the lightning lights up the sky?”

“I do.”

“She moves like the water during the storm, and she’s quiet like the moment before it thunders. That’s what she’s like. You taught her to move like the rain.”

Sometimes Batbayar taught the children, and sometimes the children taught me, but I doubted I’d be able to see Mother Nature’s fury quite the same.

I’d focused so much on the destruction I forgot about the beauty of a storm. When I thought about it, rain flowing over the land could be both glorious and devastating.

“She taught herself to move like the rain. I merely provided a guiding hand. One day, she will be able to stand firm against me, but let that beauty be a lesson for you all. Because she flows like the rain, she lives. That is what I wish for you.” Batbayar gestured to one of the other children, a boy who’d been coming to classes loyally for years, showing up even the day Mother Nature had stolen his father from him. “Yes, Paul?”

“She hit you.”

“Yes, she did. And no, I didn’t allow her to hit me. She earned that blow. I will not dishonor her effort offering her an opening when she is capable of earning one for herself. Do you know how she hit me?”

“She wanted it badly enough. She looked at you like my momma looks at steak.”

I fought my urge to laugh at that. Hell, I would do some seriously shady shit for a good steak. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a steak. Had I had steak since fleeing into the Alley? No, I hadn’t.

Cows didn’t live long outside of Tulsa’s questionable safety, so the city hoped for shipments from other quadrants—or for the rare time a rancher got lucky and dodged the storms. Year by year, the number of ranchers dropped until the only cows that would roam the wilds would be just that, wild.

Wild cows were dangerous cows—or dead cows, depending on Mother Nature’s mood at the time.

I couldn’t afford a luxury like steak. Then again, affording food at all proved to be a challenge.

“Yes, Paul. That’s correct. She wanted that hit bad enough. As you grow older, you will learn to appreciate the significance of a woman’s determined stare. When a woman gets that look, treat her with respect, for despite their often fragile appearance, nothing is more frightening than a determined woman.”

I somehow bit back my snort, as Batbayar’s lesson would likely fall on the deaf ears of the boys—and encourage the few girls in the class to become strong women out to vex their future families.

As was Batbayar’s way, he kept the class talking for a while before having them help with the chores around the center, which involved a mix of dusting, floor scrubbing, and sorting clean and dirty clothing to be washed later. The washing usually fell to me, often involving a big basin and a lot of arm work.

Electricity was almost as fickle of a mistress as the weather during the summer and fall.

Once all the children had left, I waited for Batbayar’s approval to leave, one eye on the sky and an ear pricked for the tell-tale warning sirens. “You didn’t tell the children I’ve used swords a little before. Why not?”

“You have become a goal for them now, and it will motivate them to work harder, learn better, and be better. They see you and know you can stand your ground with me. That means surely they can, too. And I will make them earn it, just as I made you earn it.”

How interesting.

Six

Losing the little I had would have made life a lot harder.

Sunday, May 3, 2043.

Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Alley.

* * *

Cleaning the studio would have to wait for another day. Batbayar kept an eye on the sky, and he ordered everyone to the questionable