Jade by Olivia Rigal Read Free Book Online Page A

nearest tree, but instead moves a few steps back. I smile at him and look at the flank of the animal. Someone has coated the edge of the wound with some sort of clay. I touch it with the tip of my fingers. It’s so smart. The clay does not disinfect like the honey does but it helps the healing process by drying up the wound. The coating also constitutes a very efficient protection against the insects that would have otherwise laid eggs, which would cause the wound to fester.
    I think it’s so cool, and I’m jealous that I didn’t think to do it.
     
    ❦
     
    I get back at camp before sun-down, and the crowd in the refectory is small. The Belgian team has gone back to Europe and the Japanese group is away this week. Tonight, there’s a table with a group of four French speaking people and then the guys from Oliver’s mining crew. 
    I recognize Liam, Dylan, and Jack and bump into a tree trunk. Actually it’s a man. My eyes are below his shoulder level. I raise my head and then my eyes. Patrick’s smiling at me. I had no idea he was so tall… and large… and cute too when he smiles. There’s a blond stubble on his chin and I wonder what it would be like to touch it. Scratchy, or silky? 
    Oh my God. What’s wrong with me? My hormones are raging and taking over.
    “Hey, guys, look, here’s our little red demon!” He says to his friends who look up to me. Liam smiles at me, and gives me a thumb up. 
    What’s with them? Did Oliver say something to them? He wouldn’t do that, now would he? 
    I shrug and go get food. I slide onto the bench at the French people’s table, and introduce myself. It’s a group of law students, they’re all of Asian origin, and live in France, Belgium and Canada. They’re touring the countries that composed the provinces of Indochina to document ancient matrimonial rules. They manage to make it sound interesting. The research is not abstract-it’s to be used for estate distribution when the people who got married in this part of the world and emigrated West pass away. It’s interesting but not enough so as to linger and chat after dinner.  
     
    ❦

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    THE WEATHER’S BEEN SO NICE since I arrived, that I forgot it’s monsoon season. The weather is catching up with a vengeance; my sleep was rocked all night by the rumble of thunder. 
    There’s no way I’m going out to the pond. 
    I walk through the hall to the showers. Most of the bedroom doors are open. It’s so hot that even those who started the night under a bed sheet are now completely exposed. In the semi-darkness, I recognize my dorm companions by shape. Liam is laying on his side, curled in a fetal position with his back to the wall. He sleeps with his underwear on. In the next cell, I recognize Patrick’s muscular body. He occupies every inch of his bed, and then some. His feet are sticking out. The cots are not long enough for the likes of him. A tent has formed in the middle of the bed sheet wrapped around his waist; someone’s having a fun dream. 
    I hit the showers before anyone else is up. I stand in the lukewarm water, and wonder why it’s been so lonely being me. Agatha tells me that it’s mainly my fault and it’s my decision to set myself apart. She’s probably right, but when I try to do it differently it usually backfires. 
    The power dies as I finish rinsing. I wrap my sarong around me and get out of the shower without bothering to dry myself. The humidity is so bad that it would be futile.
    Oliver’s standing by the shower door with a towel around his waist. The noise of the shower must have covered the sound of the door opening.
    “Hey, how’s my favorite red demon this morning?”
    I’m surprised at how happy I am to see him, but I’m annoyed at being called a demon again.
    “What’s with this red demon thing?” I ask, remembering that’s how Patrick called me yesterday.
     “Oh well, there’s a new legend in town. I’ve heard it several