Page 29 of The Artist
Teamwork
Belle
Mason didn’t come back that first night in the cabin. I lay awake for quite a while seeing the mental image of him in front of the fireplace with the glow from the flames making his red hair a tone lighter.
The first time I saw the delegation from the Northlands I’d been fascinated by Mason’s and Aubri’s rich red hair color.
Where I came from, people with natural red hair were so rare that I’d seen no more than a handful in my lifetime. We French loved color in our clothes, shoes, make-up, and hair, but it was something special to see Mason and Aubri be blessed with fiery hair from birth. That first year we met in the Motherlands, Aubri had seen my fascination with her long hair and offered to let me touch it. It had become an unspoken tradition that she let me comb and braid her hair at least once during our yearly week together.
I was the youngest of the fifteen participants. With my countrymen making it clear from day one that they didn’t want me in the delegation, going to my first summit had felt scary. I would be forever grateful for the way Aubri and Freya had made me feel welcome even though I was four years younger than them.
These past eleven years of friendship with Aubri and Freya had empowered me to see myself with different eyes. Their society was vastly different from ours and they never made me feel inferior the way Victor and the others did.
Freya was masterful when it came to debating. Aubri said it was because Freya’s mother used to be a council member and had raised her to be eloquent and thoughtful. I never spoke much during the debates, but over the years I’d studied the different styles of arguing. Freya was fair and levelheaded while Aubri, Mason, and Thor were impatient and explosive by nature. Indiana had a calming effect on them and didn’t feel the need to be heard as much. But when he felt strongly about something, he cut through with arguments often based on emotion rather than logic.
The Motlanders were polite and gracious, always trying to gently persuade without offending anyone. They cared about everyone’s feelings being heard as much as they cared about the actual outcome of the debate.
And when it came to the French, well, Victor was so used to everyone falling at his feet back home that he often seemed bored with others’ opinions. He argued in a way that sounded more like he was telling them what to think. I liked to draw him when he spoke, and I was always trying to capture that unique expression on his face that came every year on the first day when he was reminded that at the summit the others didn’t automatically agree with him. Simon, Celeste, and Isaac were more subtle in their arrogance, but as an observer it was fun to see how each nation felt they were the better one.
After breakfast we dressed for a day outside and ventured out to do the yearly competitions.
As always, we were split into teams. I was with Doreen and Thor and felt like a peacemaker between the two. At our first competition we had to run across an open field, but because of all the snow we were using snowshoes. Thor was athletic and competitive and started out for our group. Racing against Lachlan, Simon, Freya, and Celeste, Thor was the clear winner. With fast movements he untied the snowshoes to pass them to Doreen. She was already stressed and fumbled with the bindings before she got going.
“Faster!” Thor screamed at her, but for the Motlanders the yearly competitions had never been about winning. They cared more about sharing an experience of teamwork. “Come on, Doreen, I could walk faster than that without the snowshoes. Get your ass moving already.”
Doreen turned to stare at Thor and from the way she blinked her eyes and the edges of her lips turned down, I was afraid she was going to cry.
Three of the other teams were now passing their snowshoes from the first contestant to the next.
“It’s okay, Doreen. Just take one step at a time. You can do it,” I encouraged her and jumped up and down, clapping my hands. “Let’s go.”
When Thor sucked in a breath and opened his mouth to shout again, I placed my hand on his arm and shook my head. “Don’t be negative. You’re stressing her out.”
He groaned. “See, this is why I hate being on teams with Motlanders. They can’t take criticism for shit.”
“Then try with positive encouragement,” I suggested.
“Like what?”
“Tell her that she’s doing a great job.”
“Hey, Doreen, you’re doing a great job at losing the head start I got for us,” Thor shouted before meeting my not-so-impressed glare.
“What? I didn’t curse or call her names,” he defended himself.
With Indiana and Aubri competing against Doreen, Oliver, and Harper, my group was no longer ahead. Doreen dragged her feet and stumbled several times while Aubri and Indiana moved with fast, effective steps, showing that they had experience with snowshoeing.
When Doreen finally made it back and passed on the snowshoes to me, the last round had already begun. Isaac was in the lead, followed by Holly, who was laughing and moving like a snail.
Thor helped me put on the snowshoes and kept looking over his shoulder toward Mason and Victor, who were waiting for their teammates to return so they could get moving. As soon as he was done, Thor jumped back to give me space while shouting, “Go, go, go!!”
I had never tried snowshoeing before but with the pressure on my shoulders, I put all my energy into it and imitated what I’d seen Aubri do. With every step I tried to optimize my technique and heard Thor shout behind me. “That’s it, Belle. You’re overtaking Holly. Keep pushing and don’t look back. Just fucking run as fast as you can.”
I did run, or the closest thing to it. I was panting as I kept my eyes on the stick ahead that signaled my turning point. In my peripheral view I saw Victor was now off and chasing me, and it made me push harder.
“You’re doing amazing, Belle. Remember to have fun out there,” Doreen shouted.
Keeping my head down I lifted my boots with the snowshoes and took another step and then another. I paced past Holly, who cheered me on.
