Page 23 of Artemis

“What’s logic?”

“It’s reasoning. Thewhyyou do things.” Finley could tell he’d lost the kid. “Don’t worry. It’ll make sense once we play.”

He brought Alexander over to the main table and pulled out the modeling clay in different colors. “I’m going to come up with a pattern of colors and hide them under this piece of paper. You have to guess which colors they are. I’ll give you clues. Why don’t we start with two colors?”

“Okay!”

Finley opened the jars, the sweet-sour scent of the clay filling the air the instant the first lid was removed. “Close your eyes.” He took tiny bits from the pink and green jars and covered the little balls with the piece of paper. “Ready to guess?”

Alexander opened his eyes and bounced a little in his chair. “What do I do?”

“Take a pinch of clay from each jar that you think I’ve hidden,” Finley suggested.

Alexander chose green and yellow.

“Excellent start,” Finley said approvingly. “Now, I’m going to give you a white piece of clay to show that you got one right. The other one is wrong.”

“But which one is right?” Alexander asked, frowning.

“That’s for you to figure out,” Finley replied. “Try replacing one of them with another color.”

Alexander chose red and took away the green.

“You have no white pieces now.” Finley removed the white clay. “What does that tell you?”

Alexander picked up the green. “This was one!” he exclaimed triumphantly.

“Very good. Anything else?”

“It’s not red or yellow.”

“Great. Keep going.” Finley was impressed by how fast the boy caught on to the game.

Alexander chose blue next and finally pink. He looked so proud of himself when Finley showed him that he’d gotten the answer right. “Again! Again!” the little boy chanted, sliding out of his chair and doing a row of somersaults across the floor.

“Do you want me to hide three colors now?”

“Yes!”

They played five more times, increasing the difficulty to a specific order of four colors, by the time that Hestia joined them. She raised her eyebrows—surprised or impressed, Finley wasn’t certain—before busying herself with organizing a craft for once the girls awoke.

Finley basked in the quiet intensity that Alexander was radiating, all his focus on the little colored dots of clay as he tried to figure out the code. To be perfectly honest, Finley was seriously impressed that the little boy was not only wanting to continue playing the game, but was succeeding at it. He knew adults who had trouble with the amount of concentration needed.

Only the return of Damien took Alexander away from the new game. Finley had a sneaking suspicion that it would be highly sought after in the future, just like every other new thing introduced to children that age.

After lunch, the skies cleared, and Hestia suggested that they all go outside for some fresh air. They helped the kids put on splash pants and boots and headed out into the soggy backyard.

Finley leaned against the side of the building as he watched the kids gleefully stomp in puddles, splashing much higher than the protection of the waistband of the protective pants. “Why did we bother to stuff them into those plastic things if they’re going to be wet from head to toe anyway?” he asked Hestia.

“Because this way, there’s a chance that their underwear will stay dry.” Hestia chuckled. “Not much of a chance, but a slim one nonetheless.”

“I suppose that’s worth it.” Finley offered a tiny smile.

Unfortunately, the toddlers could get their diapers wet in other ways, and Hestia had to bring Lyta inside to change her, leaving Finley alone with the other three charges.

He was “helping” Atlanta build a sand and mud castle when a loud shriek met his ears.

“Lee!”

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