CHAPTER 14
“Okay,” she said, glad she had arranged the stones in such a way that she could now balance the skillet over them.
“I’ve never done this before on a skillet, so I really hope this works.
” If it didn’t produce something at least similar to a biscuit, it would all be in vain and she would have wasted supplies, and with the supplier boat not coming for another few weeks, she couldn’t really afford to do that.
“Normally, I use an oven, which is like a big box with heat,” she said, gesturing as best as she could, but then she let the words die off again, her hands dropping with them.
What if he didn’t actually care and was just being nice?
She didn’t want to bore him. The last thing she wanted was to bore her new friend and chase him off.
But then, there was that gentle touch, on her wrist this time, and his expression was so soft as he said, “Kallias likes…” He pointed to his ear.
“Hearing?” she murmured in question as if he would be able to tell her yes or no.
“Kallias likes hearing Daria…” He pointed a finger to his mouth and opened and closed it before doing the same with a repetitive sound.
“Talk. I’m talking right now.” She pointed to her lips and he nodded.
“Kallias likes hearing Daria talking.”
That was all she needed. She talked of skillets and the meals her father used to make her in them under the majesty of the stars. She talked of ships and the sea. She even talked of butter and showed him the book with the cows.
Of course it didn’t stop at cows. He flipped through the whole book with her explaining all the way.
The biscuits were good. Different but good, and it was practically lunch when he leaned back on the rock beside her, his mid and upper back on the rock, his tail floating near the surface of the water, and he said three magical little words, “Kallias likes Daria.”
And the response came out of her lips before she could even consider it. “Daria likes Kallias too.”