Page 121 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
Joe focused on Kip’s face, which was better than lookingdown.
“Senses vary by clan, but ours are keener than yours. Mysense of smell might not be at wolf levels, but I know when someone’s nothaving fun anymore.” Kip’s smile was apologetic. “Almost there.”
And they were. The whole time Kip had been explaining, he’dbeen slowly sinking from the sky. Joe took a few deep breaths, cautiouslyadjusted his grip, and mumbled, “A little to the left.”
They came to rest on bare dirt, inside the rib of a pumpkin.
Joe just lay there, not ready to let go, not wanting tospoil things.
“Sorry, Jiro,” said Kip. “Ash loves it when I carry him upand away. He can’t fly, but he can’t help wanting to feel the wind in hiswings. It was thoughtless of me to haul you so far out of your comfort zone.”
“I’m fine.”
Kip didn’t argue the point. Just patted Joe’s back. Likethis was natural. Like it was nothing.
Joe mumbled, “I must be heavy.”
“Eh. I’m stronger than I look.”
A confusing answer, since Kip was pretty built. Joe asked,“How strong are you?”
With a rueful smile, he said, “Scary strong.”
Joe had heard of people who didn’t know their own strength.Was this the opposite? “You scare yourself?”
“No. But I’m scared of scaring people.” Kip’s hand left offpatting, just rested where it was. “And I don’t want to betray your trust.”
“I trust you.”
Kip’s brow furrowed. Like he didn’t believe it.
Joe immediately felt bad. Was it because he’d smelledafraid? Did that translate to a lack of trust? “Can we try again?”
“The maze? I could probably run it backward and blindfolded,now that I’ve figured it out.”
“Didn’t you want a look?” Joe pointed up. “I want anotherchance.”
His nostrils were quivering.
Joe didn’t like being second-guessed. He pinched Kip’s noseshut and insisted, “You didn’t scare me, yousurprisedme. I want ado-over.”
“Okay, sure.” Kip gently freed his nose. “I’d like a do-overmyself. Let’s rearrange.”
Joe eased off, and Kip rolled into a low crouch, one kneetouching the ground.
“Up you get,” he invited.
Was he kidding? “I’m too big for piggyback rides.”
“You’re only too big if nobody can lift you. And I justhappen to be scary strong.” Kip’s eyes were bright. “I give piggyback rides tokids on the playground all day long. Never lost one yet.”
Joe resigned himself to the loss of dignity. It helped tothink of it as a trust-building exercise. Because Kip needed to trust that Joetrusted him.
Rising up on the pads of his paws, Kip bounced a couple oftimes and gave Joe’s thighs a friendly squeeze. “Ready?”
“Think so.”
Taking him at his word, Kip coiled into a spring thatlaunched them into a steep arc.
