Page 82 of The Mentor
Two women came strolling in our direction. They had sunhats on and were carrying wet towels. At first they didn’t see us because they were deep in conversation, but then one of them looked up and stopped cold when she saw Archer in his shorts and tank top. She wasn’t the first to display a shocked reaction, but at least in the city the Nmen’s muscles had been covered by clothing. The tank top, however, did nothing to hide Archer’s muscled shoulders and arms.
Huddling closer, the women hooked their arms together as if Archer was in the market for kidnapping old middle-aged women.
“Hello, ladies,” Archer said politely, but that just made them hurry as far to the side of the path as possible.
“May peace surround you,” I greeted the two scared women as we passed them.
“It’s stupid that people are so frightened of us here,” Archer muttered low.
“It’s just because they don’t know you. Varna and Cindy overcame their fear pretty fast, didn’t they? From what I saw these past days, they’re having a great time with Finn.” I laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to seduce both of them before we leave.”
“I would give him extra bonus points if he seduces them at the same time,” Archer said.
“That’s probably a stretch, but my point is that my fellow Motlanders have been filled with horror stories that aren’t all true.”
He sighed. “It will take time to change that.”
I gave a shrug. “Maybe not as long as you think. I was never too frightened of you.”
His eyes softened in a grin. “Which is ironic. I mean if you knew all the things I want to do to you.”
For a moment, we stood an arm’s length apart and just smiled at each other. It was hard for me to understand how anyone could be afraid of this handsome man with his charming smile and warm eyes.
“Come on, I’ll race you to the water.” Archer took off with a happy howl that had me wonder about the contradiction of this man. How was it possible for him to be so boyish and playful with me in private, and at the same time be a strict disciplinarian with the kids? For some reason none of the Nboys seemed the least bit afraid of him, and that puzzled me since he was quick to punish them if he thought their behavior was unacceptable. At the same time, I had seen him play-wrestle with the boys, and he often made them laugh with his jokes.
Not finding an answer to my conundrum, I took in the beach, my eyes scanning for our group, which only took a second because they weren’t far away.
At least half of the children were in the water with Marco, Finn, Varna, and Cindy.
Nieall had ganged up with William and Sultan and were chasing some of the girls with seaweed hanging from their hands.
Mila and Paysey were playing in the sand and seemed in their own little friendship bubble while the rest lay soaking up the sun halfway up the beach.
“Hey,” I said and walked over to sit down next to Shelly. “Everything all right?”
“Everything is fine.” She smiled and I once again considered asking her if she wanted my help getting rid of her acne. Still, fifteen was a sensitive age and I didn’t want to make her more self-aware than she already was.
“Can I sit with you?” Raven asked and slid into my lap, where she cuddled up against my chest with a sad pout.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and caressed her arm.
“Plato is being mean again,” she complained loudly.
A splash of water hit me and I looked up to see Marco shaking his wet hair in our direction. “Who is being mean?” he asked and pulled Raven up from my lap and onto his shoulder. She was wincing from the cold water on his body. “Just tell me who I have to beat up,” he joked.
“Plato said that all girls are weak as jellyfish,” Raven whined.
“Hey, Plato,” Marco called out to the boy, who raised his head up from the towel where he was lying. “Are you being mean to the girls again?”
“They are being mean to me too,” he said sourly.
Marco sat Raven down on the sand again. “What happened exactly?” he asked.
“It was just a small misunderstanding,” Shelly quickly said. “We really don’t need to talk more about it.”
But Marco didn’t back off. “Tell me anyway.”
Raven didn’t need to be asked twice, and started giving Marco her full report. “First Plato said that girls are weak as jellyfish, and then Shelly asked him to apologize. Plato was being really disrespectful, saying that Shelly is just a child herself and that there is nothing she could do to him since Momsies don’t hit.”
