Chapter 3
"You want to get some sleep?" Boris asks me after a few minutes.
"Nah, I still have another two days before my next sleep cycle." I reply. Another side effect of what I am, a normal person has to sleep eight hours every twenty-four hours, well I only have to sleep eight hours every two weeks!
"So let me guess, you want to take the day off to go see the races, huh?" Says Boris. I turn around to look at him, smiling.
"You got something better for me to do?" I say. He shakes his head and sighs then looks up, smirking.
"No, I guess not," he says. "Besides your chances of 'accidently" bumping into Jenna are much better there, than here." He teases. I just shake my head in exasperation.
"Doubtful, considering I'll be on the rooftops, like always." Boris just looks at me and smiles.
"Well, you never know, something might happen."
"I would never blow my cover. I'm not am amateur, Boris." I say, insulted.
"Son, you would be amazed what a man will do to impress a pretty girl," he says with a smirk. I don't even bother to respond to that, I just leave. I walk out the door into the snow pulling my scarf up over my nose, concealing the bottom half of my face, I look both ways to make sure nobodies around. I'm good, every body is at the races.
I take off, across the street to the general store, using my momentum I wall-run up it and grab onto the edge of the roof, finally I pull my self up. After making sure nobody saw me I begin to make my way towards main street. I set a steady pace and as I get closer I can hear the crowd of people that always gather for the race. I love the races, I'm sure I could win... if they'd let me compete. The idea of surviving out there in the wasteland, with nothing but what I could carry on my back, has always thrilled me.
Suddenly, a flare goes up in the distance, bright enough that its visible even in the morning light. "The one mile marker!" I think excitedly to myself. "Better hurry if I want to catch the finish!" I take off at full speed, there's a large gap between the next house and the one I'm on. I could jump it, but that would be tiring, so instead I opt for a less strenuous route. There's a long board propped up against the wall of the roof I'm on, just barely reaching above the edge of the roof. "This is gonna be fun."
Without slowing down I step onto the edge of the board and my momentum causes it to gravitate towards the house in front of me. While I ride it across the gap. I step off almost casually once I reach the other side and take off again. A few more seconds and I'm there, standing on Mr. Johnson's restaurant looking down on main street, oblivious to the crowds below me. Just then the racers, on horseback round the corner and make there way towards the finish line at top speed.
Steele is in the lead, as usual. He's racing hard pushing his horse to its limit. I always thought it was funny how Steele raced horses, considering he's like me...well one-half of me. Even in the middle of a race as close as this he still has time smile and wink at some ladies in the crowd, who swoon and sigh as if he were the spirits gift to women. "What a ham." I think to myself.
I take a cursory glance towards the finish line, about a hundred yards down the road, when I see Jenna and Rosie at the side of the road watching the pack of fast approaching racers get closer and closer to the finish line. Rosie is waving her new sledders hat in the air and cheering at the top of her lungs, "Come on Steele!"
"Crap, she's one of them." I think irritated. Interestingly Jenna seems much less enthusiastic about the race. Then a quick burst of wind suddenly snatches the hat from Rosie's hands, and blows it out in the street, right in the path of the racers!
She tries to rush out in the street to get it, but Jenna grabs her hand as she yells out, "My hat!" Without thinking I pull a completely amateurish move...I blow my cover. I somersault out over the edge of the building landing on the edge of the track, just as the racers pass me. Some ladies behind me scream out, can't say I blame them. I didn't take any time to change from earlier and I know that in all black, at six-foot two I look pretty intimidating. I tune out the cries of dismay from the townspeople as I sprint full speed, trying to make it to that stupid little hat before it's trampled.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." I think to myself. But then I give up conscience thought and focus solely on my objective the hat, just like Boris taught me. I imagine I can hear him now. "When you take a contract nothing else matters but the target," I hear him say "Everything else is a secondary objective, your cover, your team, even your own life. Nothing matters but completing the contract. Nothing." Okay, not exactly an assassination but the concept applies.
Normally a horse would just barely be able to keep up with me, but they did have a pretty good head start. So at ten yards to go I'm neck-and-neck with Steele himself. "Just what do you think you're doing half-breed." He snarls at me, as he raises his riders whip to strike. But I see it coming and with a burst of strength I jump forward and to the side just trying to reach the hat. The whole world seems to slow as I somersault just a few feet in front of the pack racers, who certainly won't lose any sleep if they trample me. As my momentum carries me towards the other side of the street I reach down in mid-somersault and snatch the hat from the ground, landing safely on my feet at the very edge of the track, seconds before the spot it was just lying is ran over by about a dozen mounted riders. As soon as they pass I take a second to catch my breath and then quickly make my way across the street towards Jenna and Rosie. I almost burst out laughing at the shock on their face, but instead I kneel down in front of Rosie.
"You should keep a tighter hold on this," I find myself saying as I hold out the hat towards her. I don't think she fully grasps what I just did until she looks down at sledders hat in my hand. I half expect her to say she doesn't want it now that I've touched it, at best I expect her to snatch it and leave without so much as a thank you, but instead she does the last thing I would ever expect.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" She says as she throws her arms around my neck. I have absolutely no idea how to respond to this, I'm still thinking of what to say when Jenna interrupts.
"You must be Balto," she says, but not...in the way most people do, not in a scared sort of way, but...curious.
"Um...y-y-yes I-I-I am." I stammer out, trying not to stare. She really is beautiful with her fathers fiery red hair and her green eyes, she's not very tall but for some reason I'm more intimidated than I've ever been before.
"Well thank you Balto, that was an incredibly brave thing for you to do," she says, smiling. I'm to shocked for words, I mean she can see my eyes and still she's being civil to me. "No, she's being nice to me!" I realize and I find my self smiling despite myself. Good thing Rosie can't see my smile, with my teeth it would probably give her nightmares.
"Balto, are you alright?" she says, as her eyes grow wide with concern and I realize I've been staring. I promptly curse myself for looking like an idiot.
"I-I-I-I," I begin, when all of sudden I'm interrupted by the sheriff and his two deputies rushing up.
"Get away from her you freak." says Sheriff Weatherly, looking at me.
"Sheriff!" cries out Jenna in shock. I don't want to cause any trouble, no need to stir up any more angry feeling towards me, so I do what I always do.
"I was just leaving Sheriff." I say quietly, as I begin to walk away slowly. Him and his deputies just laugh like always.
"Thats what I thought, now just get on out of here, what is it? Ballo?" he says with a sneer and then goes right back to laughing. I look over at Jenna who looks...just ashamed. For some reason I get angrier then I've ever been. Weatherly and his boys realize I've stopped and stop laughing long enough to throw more taunts at me. "What's the matter Ballo? Forget the way home?" They erupt in another burst of hysterics. I can still see that look on Jenna's face. I look like such a coward right now. "I can't let her see me like this," I think to myself. So I do something I've never done before. I turn around and snarl out in a voice like ice "My name is Balto!"