Page 31 of Cryptic Curse

I don’t need anyone helping me fix my knee.It’s certainly not the first scraped knee I’ve had, and it won’t be the last.I’m not a baby, after all.I know how to wash my wound, apply some Bactine, and then a bandage.

But for some reason, I let Ted help me.

It feels good to be taken care of.

“So your big brother leaves you out?”Ted says.

I sigh.“Yeah.All the time.He’s three years older than I am, and Eagle three years younger.Then there’s the girls, who are two years older than I am, but Raven is so girly.Robin can be fun now and then, but she’d rather be hanging out with Falcon and his friends, too.Flirting and everything.”

“So that makes her what?Around fourteen?”

“Yeah, fourteen in a couple months.Her and Raven both.”

Ted wets a washcloth in the sink and carefully applies it to my scraped knee.The washcloth is warm, and his touch is gentle.Gentler than I would’ve been.

“Doesn’t look too bad,” he says.“It’ll scab over and heal up in no time.Just in time for you to scrape the other one.”

“Yeah, probably.”

He takes the Bactine out, puts some on a cotton ball, and rubs it gently on the open wound before putting on a bandage.“There you go.The Bactine has an anesthetic in it that will numb the pain pretty soon.”

“Thanks,” I say.

“Tell you what.I don’t have a lot more to do today.How about you and I hang out together for the rest of the day?”

“Doing what?”Last thing I want to do is hang out in my father’s office and watch him work on the computer.

“Do you like games?”Ted asks.

“Sure.Who doesn’t?”

“Video games, I bet,” he says.

“Oh yeah, love them.We have a Nintendo, but Falcon is usually hogging it playing Mario Kart.But even when I do get my turn, Mom doesn’t let us have a lot of screen time.”

“Your mom’s a smart woman.Those things numb your brain.”He clasps his hands together.“I’ll teach you to play a real game.How about Monopoly?”

“We have it, but it takes too long.We never finish the game.”

He smirks.“I can take care of that.Or we could play Scrabble.”

“I don’t think we have that one.”

“I never travel without Scrabble,” Ted says.“I’ll go get it out of my truck.You stay here in your dad’s office, and I’ll be right back.”

10

DANIELA

Belinda and I arrive at the huge Bellamy ranch house right behind Vinnie and Raven.

I park my car and Belinda and I get out, following Vinnie and Raven inside.Hawk hasn’t arrived yet, and a sliver of sadness sweeps through me.His other brother, Eagle, is playing on his phone in the corner.

I’m sure he’ll be along any second.

Belinda tugs on my hand.“What am I supposed to do?There aren’t any kids my age here.”

“Why don’t you hang out in the kitchen with me?”I offer.