Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Safia was very happy for her. “Does he ever dictate to you? When I was a child, all my brothers were bossy and tried to tell me what to do.”
“Notice she used the word ‘tried.’ ” Lunja laughed. “If they got too bossy, Safia retaliated by having the hens lay eggs in their beds.”
The women erupted with laughter.
Tala doubled over, clutching at her stomach. “I would like to have the hens lay eggs in my brothers’ beds sometime.”
“Maybe it would be best not to do that,” Lunja said.
“There were times when her retaliation was far worse than that,” Aura murmured, keeping her head down.
“Don’t tell them anything else,” Safia protested. “I was a child, and my brothers were always telling me what to do.”
That wasn’t entirely the truth. She sighed. “Well, most of the time, they weren’t. Only when they thought I was doing something dangerous.”
“You were always doing dangerous things,” Lunja pointed out.
“I was learning how to be a defender,” Safia said. Then she grinned. “Sort of. I did like to try things.”
“Such as?” Farah asked.
Safia found it hard to sit still. She was someone always in need of action. It took great discipline to sit without moving to allow Farah and Aura to create the patterns on her skin. She knew the women were helping to distract her with their advice. Lunja’s tales from her childhood added to the diversion, as did the occasional outbursts of song.
Safia glanced at her older sister. “It was a long time ago,” she hedged. “Izem caught me trying to leap over fences. Very tall fences. They were close to the bluff. He gave me a very stern lecture that time.” She made a face.
“You were five, Safia,” Lunja pointed out. “The fence was there to keep the sheep from falling onto the rocks. You would have broken your neck if you’d jumped too far out or the cliff crumbled.”
“I realize that now,” she conceded. “But then, it was just fun to push my limits. I could barely contain all the adrenaline building up in me all the time. Izem was really upset with me. He didn’t yell, but he made it clear there was to be no more leaping over those fences.”
“What did you do to him?” Amara asked.
Safia groaned. “Don’t make me tell you, especially since he was so sweet and built a series of hurdles, each one higher than the next, for me to practice jumping over.”
“You were five,” Amara pointed out.
“I know, but I was awful.” She would have liked to cover her now very red face with her hands, but she had to hold still. Safia sighed. “I had salamanders crawl up the outside of the house and come in through his window. He always opened the windows at night and didn’t have a screen. He should have, but he had given up the screen for one of the houses we were working on, and other materials hadn’t come in yet.”
“She does have a bit of a temper, doesn’t she?” Layla said, amusement creeping into her voice. “She isn’t the only one in the family. Badis has one as well.” She rubbed her rounded belly. “I told him if our child inherited that little part of him, he will be dealing with it, as I have no idea what to do.”
“What do you do when Badis loses his temper?” Safia asked.
Layla pressed her lips together for a short moment, her eyes lighting up again. She shook her head. “He makes me laugh. I try very hard not to, because he’s very serious, but it feels so out of character for him. He never gets upset with me; it’s always at an object. Like one of the building projects, and the wall isn’t going up the way he wants. He particularly likes to create pottery, and when he’s at the wheel and things go awry, he is not happy. The wheel gets an earful. That’s why I know if our child takes after him, it will be difficult for me to even gently attempt to correct the behavior.”
“It’s probably a good thing he doesn’t know how to direct insects and reptiles,” Lunja said. “Otherwise, who knows what would be happening on our farm?”
“I’m beginning to fear for poor Petru, no matter how warrior-like or legendary he is,” Farah said. “We should sing his song for him every time he comes around. He’ll need his courage.”
“Don’t encourage him with singing his praises,” Safia objected. “If you think any of your men are the bossy type, you haven’t met my man. He may be sweet and kind, but he has no problem taking over. He hasn’t done it yet, but it’s coming. I can feel it. So no songs to encourage him.”
Another round of laughter went up. It felt good to laugh so much. She enjoyed being with her family. The women began to make up lyrics for the legendary warrior who had saved their people with his brilliant tactics.