voice was behind me now. “Congratulations, you have just won the most coveted role in the reenactment. The one that every woman in this town wants.”
I shook my head at him. “Who?”
“Margaret. The jackal slayer.”
“The what?”
“Legend has it,” Logan said, sounding very excited, “that when the Ackermans were on their long trek across the land to find this place, starving and dehydrated and barely hanging onto life, one night a jackal came and took one of their baby lambs. Margaret went out in the middle of the night and single-handedly fought the jackal off with a stick! It never came near them again.”
“Wh-what?” I looked to Samirah. “That’s ridiculous. How the hell could she fight off a jackal?”
“She was a brave, strong woman.”
“And she was pregnant at the time too,” Samirah added.
I rolled my eyes. “You guys, no starving, pregnant woman can fight off a jackal with a branch. I think that story has been grossly exaggerated.”
“Exaggerated or not, that’s what we reenact every single year.”
My eyes widened. “Sorry, let me get this straight—you want me to act like a pregnant woman and reenact an imaginary fight with a jackal?”
“Exactly.”
I burst out laughing at the sheer ridiculousness. “You’ve got to be kidding. No way in hell I’m doing that. Why would you even put me up for such a thing, Samirah?” I turned and glared at her.
Logan cleared his throat and then leaned in closer to me. “I think she put you up for it because of what you said you saw.”
“Huh?”
He nudged me. “Let’s just say that in the reenactment, Mark plays your husband.”
“What?” I threw my hands in the air. “No! I’m not doing that.”
“It’s the most coveted role of the year. Every woman wants it.”
I started shaking my head vehemently.
“Maybe Harun can play the jackal this year.” Samirah perked up, sounding genuinely excited.
“Who are you playing in this thing?” I asked.
She patted her massive belly. “No way I can walk down the whole street this year, but last year I played sheep herder four.”
“No, no, no.” It was all I could say. “I’ve never heard of anything more ridiculous in my life.” I looked around again for Mark. I expected him to be protesting as much as I was. Why wasn’t he also loudly objecting?
“Who runs this thing?” I asked.
Samirah pointed to a man in the corner with a clipboard.
“He used to run a theatre before he moved here,” Samirah added while I looked at him.
I didn’t doubt that. The bright pink bow tie and French beret kind of screamed that.
I started walking towards him.
“What you doing?” Logan called after me.
“Quitting,” I said over my shoulder as I walked. “Hi,” I said loudly and abruptly as I reached the man with the clipboard and bow tie.
He gave me a once-over before answering. “Hello.” He extended his large hand, bedazzled with golden rings, and I was forced to shake it. “I’m Ian,” he said.
“Frankie,” I replied.
“I know who you are.” He smiled. “Everyone knows who you are.” He gave me a wink and my face went a little red. “Thank you so much for volunteering to play—”
“I didn’t volunteer.” I cut him off. “In fact, that’s what I’m here about. I want to quit.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, once it’s up on the board, you can’t quit.”
“Board?”
He pointed behind me to the handwritten piece of paper pinned to a board.
“Well, I’m sorry, I can’t do it,” I reiterated.
“Sorry,” he said with a little sour-lemon edge to his voice. “Once it’s on the board, it’s final.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “That’s ridiculous. It’s not like I signed a contract.”
“Well.” He walked up to me. “In a way, you did. When your name is on the board, your name is on the board.”
“Well, I never actually gave permission for my name to be on the board.” I hadn’t meant for that to come out at the volume it had, but it had and a few heads turned.
“Permission or not, it’s on the board.” Ian folded his arms in something that looked like a challenge.
“We’ll see about that!” Also said too loudly, and now a few more people were looking.
Ian made a fast move for the paper and I was sure he was about to pull it off and hold it over my head like written gospel, so I threw myself at the paper and got there before he did. I blocked his approaching body with my back and rubbed my finger over my name. Pen! It had been written