Page 66 of Leveling

Chapter 45

Luna was paddling. The going was tough, slow, requiring enormous effort. Waterfolk usually spread out, over a distance, because they all traveled at different speeds. The paddlers in the back tried to go faster, the paddlers in the front tried to slow down, but now, with their heavy loads the paddlers were close, slow, unable to talk, just paddling, keeping pace. After an hour River said, “I need a break.”

Everyone stopped paddling and collapsed to their boards.

Odo laughed. “I guess we all did.”

They refueled with food and water, then rested, floating idly. The day was hot and beautiful and the wind pushed from behind. The sky was high and cloudless.

Luna covered herself in sunscreen, then passed it to Sky. Sky looked at her arm as she rubbed the white paste in. “So that was where you metThe Guy?”

River paddled up for some sunscreen. Luna asked, “What guy?”

Sky said, “The one with his name on your pack and your board.”

“Oh, that guy.”

River and Sky laughed. “Oh,thatguy.”

Luna had almost forgotten how much Waterfolk laughed, and how they liked to tease. Because it was conversational, and it passed the time. What else did they have to do, really? Also hard physical effort had the tendency to make people silly.

Luna asked, “How do you know Beckett Stanford isn’t the name of the designer of my, um, water filter?”

River and Sky laughed even louder. Buzz paddled up to see what was funny. “Anyone who goes by the name of Beckett Stanford is a boring, duty-bound, fear-driven, Stiffneck.”

Sky said, “And any Stiffneck who scrawls his name all over a Nomad’s paddleboard is a love-sick Stiffneck.”

Luna fell back on her board arms wide. “He wasn’t love-sick, he—”

Sky said, “Right, you just gave him a taste of your spectacular awesome, and that my dear, istotallythe same thing.”

Buzz said, “Seggy over there,” he thumbed toward a smiling, dark-haired, short, stocky, shaped-like-a-square young man who sat splashing his feet in the water, “said he would help you get over the Stiffneck, if you need his services.”

Sky said, “Luna is not ready to need Seggy’s help, thank you very much. She has a broken heart because she has lost the love of her life. That will take at least six weeks to get over.”

River said, “Eleven, eleven weeks to get over the love of your life, twelve, if he was nice to you.” She smiled as she rubbed sunscreen on her chest.

Buzz laughed. “With Seggy’s help you could cut that time in half.”

Sky splashed him with a wallop of water and he yelped. “Hey! I’m just trying to help Luna! And keep the Waterfolk loving Waterfolk.” He beamed a big smile at Sky and paddled back to Seggy.

“Don’t mind him Luna, he just...”

“I get it, I had brothers.”

“Oh, yeah, sure you did,” Sky dropped to her stomach with an arm trailing in the water. “You take all the time you need. I saw your face when you went to the rooftop. You take your time.”

Odo stood up on his board and announced, “Paddles UP!”

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