Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(20)

I scramble, look behind me, searching for our secret stash.

Bingo. We must have thirty fresh snowballs tucked away, ready for seven little screamers who think it’s their day to whip us.

“Winnie, you gotta –”

Nope. She’s already on it. I’m the slowpoke as my best friend pops up and pitches three big white cannonballs. Lightning fast.

Holy crap. I’m glad she’s on my side.

But that’s how it always is with Winnie. I met her last summer at school. She’s this shy, quiet girl from the reservation right outside Kinsleyville, and I found out real quick she packs a mean punch.

“Hurry, hurry!” she urges me on. I blink and catch up, throwing one volley after the next, aiming at the little punks who don’t know they’re charging into an ambush.

Mikey McGregor takes one to the cheek and smarts, and he’s the first to turn tail.

I’m laughing when I see the confusion on Ang’s face. Her friend, that Jenny girl, spins around and squeals, trying to pull Ang along with her.

“Retreaaaaaaaaat!” I scream out, cupping one hand over my mouth. Winnie loses it next to me, laughing so hard she can’t keep going.

Angie turns. Good timing. She’s got less than three seconds before I whip another snowball right at their feet, and this one’s big.

A second later, I’m watching their bright-colored coats disappear in a rush over the next snow hill.

Wow.

“Hot dang, Winnie. It worked,” I say.

She flashes me a smile that’s infectious. Her braces make her look like a little shark. “Told ya, Drakie. And here you just wanted to hideout in your dad’s machine shed.”

“All right, all right, you win, Winnie. Now I know why they call you that,” I say, scrunching my face.

She throws an elbow in my ribs so hard I drop the snowball I’m holding. “No friendly fire!”

Giggling, I tackle her instead, and we enjoy our little triumph. Figure we’ve got five minutes before Ang works up the courage to rush over again with those kids, and this time they’ll know what’s coming.

“Come on. We gotta go to the next fort. They’ll be on us like flies,” I say, helping her up.

Her little hand is so cold, even through her mitten.

“Lead the way, Drakie. That’s what you’re good for, helping us through the snow when I get stuck. And sometimes fightin’, I guess.” Her tongue flashes out, quick and teasing.

“I’m good at looking out for you, Winnie. You do the same for me. We’re a good team.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she says, shifting back into that shy little eight-year-old girl you’d never think would be the first to back me up like a tiger when push comes to shove. I like it like that. “You think it’ll always be like this?”

“Like winter? Yeah, I hope so! Nothing else I’d rather be doing than stomping around having snowball fights and sled races.”

She smiles, but not really. Almost...sad?

“Wish it’d be this way forever and ever. But it won’t be,” she says. “You seen the way grownups live?”

I shake my head. “Yeah, boring. We can’t let it happen to us. I’m not gonna stay in this town. Gonna go off and join the Army someday and do all kinds of cool stuff. You know they get to drive tanks? Tanks, Winnie!”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Bet that’s a lot tougher than your old man letting you drive his mower. Sounds fun. I dunno if I’ll ever leave.”

“You gotta promise yourself you will. Just make up your mind and do it. We’ll blow this place together. We have to try.” I give her another smile, wondering why she seems so weird and serious today.

“Yeah, but...what if I don’t make it? You gonna just leave and never be my friend?”

I stop for a second. We’re almost at our new fort, and I don’t really get why Winnie has these tears in her eyes. Is it the cold? Or just girls feeling too much? I heard that can happen.

“Winnie, hey, hey, we’re gonna get out of here. Ten more years and–”

“What if I’m stuck? What if I can’t? Mama always says leaving’s just stupid. She says I better figure it out soon. Maybe she’s right. She’s been here her whole life at the Rez.”

I pause, real quiet, hating the lonely tear rolling down her cheek. “Don’t matter, Winnie. I’ll be coming home, and I’ll still be your friend if you wanna be mine?”

She nods, vigorously, a slow smile rubbing the sadness off her face. Then we turn, hearing the rapid crunch of kids tromping through the snow, coming after us.

“C’mon! Let’s show ’em we can kick their butts all day long.”





Present Day





There’s an ice-cold face staring at me, too pale to ever speak or smile or move again.

Someone innocent. Someone I loved. Someone who looks like my best friend first, and then too much like Dad.

“Goddammit!” I bolt up and smack the headboard, glazed in a cold sweat.

Shit.

A dream. A nightmare. A memory. The bad fuckin’ turn-your-guts-out kind.

It’s the ass crack of dawn, around the time I usually wake up just like this. It’s been the norm for the past four or five years, never averaging more than my usual six hours.