Free Forged by Greed by Angela Orlowski-Peart Page A

hand, grabbed
a plastic tumbler from a side table next to her, and flung the contents at
Jasmira. Water and ice cubes hit Jasmira square in the chest. She shrieked and
jumped off her chaise.
    “Okay, truce!” Penelope yelled. She outstretched her arms in front
of her, palms out.
    “No truce, traitor,” Jasmira modulated her voice to make it sound
like the old witch from Wizard of Oz movie. “I’m gonna get you, my pretty.”
    Jasmira seized a soda can and shook it vigorously. Penelope
scrambled out from the chaise longue and ran toward the pool, stopping at the
edge to see if Jasmira was following. Jasmira ran full speed at Penelope, the
spraying soda can in hand. Without slowing down she rammed into Penelope,
pushing her in the pool. The girls screeched, slamming into the water.
      Everyone cheered and hooted,
waiting for them to surface. They both came up for air, laughing and trying to shove
each other under the water.
    “Fine, you win!” Penelope hollered, scrambling to get away from
Jasmira.
    Jasmira gave a laugh of pretend venom and swiftly got out of the
pool. She reached out and offered Penelope a hand. Penelope graciously accepted
with a pleasant smile. In one rapid motion she pulled Jasmira back into the
water. Jasmira fell into the pool, squealing.
    Penelope didn’t wait for her friend to resurface. Instead, she
climbed out, and ran toward the cabana, her body a blur of motion. Jasmira
grabbed the ball, bobbing on the water next to her, and, with measured
precision, threw it at Penelope’s back. The ball sailed through the air.
Penelope ducked and rolled on the lawn. The ball hit one of the cabana’s
windows, shattering it and disappearing inside.
    “Whoa!” the small crowd shouted.
    “Oops.” Penelope made a face and turned to look at Jasmira, who
watched, half-immersed in the water. “Your grandma won’t like it.”
    Jasmira waved her hand and shouted back, “Sorry, Pen! I didn’t mean
to throw it that hard.”
    “Yes, you did.” Penelope walked back. “Forgot your strength again?”
She bent down to pick up her sunglasses off the pavers, and then lay down on
the chaise longue.
    Jasmira trotted toward her, leaving wet foot prints on the concrete.
She flung herself down onto the chaise and said, “Ana needs to get her repair
guys here to take care of that window.”
    Penelope stretched with a yawn. “Oh, the sun feels so good.” She
turned to look at Jasmira. “You haven’t said a word about Jatred lately. What’s
up?”
    “Nothing. I mean… I don’t know.” Jasmira reached for a towel. “Last
week we only talked on the phone. I haven’t seen him since we went running in
the woods that one night.”
    “That doesn’t sound like you two.” Penelope yawned again.
    “He seems distracted or something. It’s so weird.” Jasmira got up
and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. She shrugged indifferently. “I
don’t want to seem needy, so I don’t pressure him.”
    “Yep. You shouldn’t. There is nothing worse than a whiny chick. Or a
guy, for that matter.” Penelope inspected her nails. “I need a manicure. Let’s
go this afternoon.”
    “Only if we get smoothies afterwards.”
      “Sure,” Penelope murmured.
    Laying down on the chaise longue, Jasmira turned her face away from Penelope.
She put her mental shield up, not wanting anyone to hear her thoughts. She
didn’t feel like discussing this particular problem at the moment. He’s avoiding me. I know he’s doing it on
purpose. It must be because of the
Winter Goddess. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, her worried frown
deepening. The joy, she felt only moments earlier while playing with her
friends evaporated, replaced by gloom and disappointment.
    Jasmira closed her eyes, and her breathing slowed.
     
    ***
     
    “J, run! Run! Run!” Jatred
yelled, pushing her out of the way. Instinctively she shifted into her leopard
form, leaped forward and ran, her head low between her shoulder blades. Hoping
that