Blood & Flowers Read Online Free Page A

everything that had happened. We sat, and I, at least, listened to the rain.
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    When the sun comes out the whole world looks better. This is especially true after an evening of disorder and discontent. Unfortunately, it was still raining the next morning.
    Max and Tonio were back though, crumbling muffins around the living room and drinking coffee the way they always did, with enough cream to cause a heart attack on the spot. Nicholas had gone back to his dorm room once we’d made something of an effort to clean up the dining room, and he hadn’t yet shown up for the day. Lucia was nowhere to be seen, Floss was working, and I was aimless. Now that the flyers were up, and possibly pulp with all the moisture in the air, I was waiting for rehearsals to start. This wouldn’t happen until Floss finished her latest creation, which involved lots of faux feathers and swearing and no magic at all.
    â€œCoffee?” Max asked me when I wandered by. Isighed like a drama queen and shook my head.
    â€œMuffin?” Tonio tried, and I shook my head again.
    â€œI’m bored,” I muttered. “Bored and looking for excitement.”
    â€œDon’t bother,” Tonio said, his voice dry and flat. “It’s never as good as you think it’ll be.”
    â€œProbably not,” I agreed, “but neither is doing nothing.”
    Floss came into the room. She looked like an enlarged bird. Yellow and blue and spring green feathers followed her like stray puppies. She was blowing air toward her forehead, but the feathers she seemed to be trying to dislodge fluttered prettily, then settled back into her hair and dangled.
    â€œI think,” she said between breaths, “I’m through. Anyone want to take a look?”
    â€œMe,” I said before Tonio or Max could think. “I want to take a look.”
    Floss jerked her head back the way she’d come. Two feathers floated down, one catching on her eyebrow. “Damn,” she growled.
    â€œWhy don’t you just pull them off?” I asked. “Itlooks like they’re driving you crazy.”
    Floss held out the hands that had been tucked in the pockets of the scraggy green jacket she wore as her work smock. She looked like she was wearing feathered gloves.
    â€œOh,” I said, making a futile attempt to brush the things away. After three tries I said, “Did you glue them to yourself on purpose?”
    Floss narrowed her eyes. “What do you think?”
    â€œI think you’re a mess,” I said as I shook feathers around the room.
    It was probably the green feather in his coffee that made Tonio sigh and say, “Let’s see the creature, Floss.”
    We walked in a small parade accompanied by feather confetti. I found Lucia as soon as I turned the corner into Floss’s workroom. She was modeling an egg-shaped, sassy chicken suit, as big around as three or four Lucias put together. Her legs, in green striped stockings, came out of the bottom, and her head, dressed in a fetching little blue feather cap, came out the top. She had big rubber-toed shoes on her feet,and yellow rubber kitchen gloves on her hands. It was a charming and, at the same time, completely absurd bird.
    â€œA spangled vest,” Tonio suggested.
    â€œAnd long glitter eyelashes,” said Max.
    â€œEyelashes. Ugh,” said the Lucia-bird.
    Floss stood there, arms crossed, feathers fluttering around her, and narrowed her eyes. “I like the vest idea,” she said at last. “In red, maybe, or is that too contrasty? But I’m not set on the eyelashes.”
    â€œGood.” Obviously this was from Lucia.
    Since I hadn’t contributed much, I said, “If you do the red on the vest, make the spangles green and yellow,” which made Floss shudder and say, “Stick with book building, my dear.”
    I laughed and said, “Just trying to do my part.”
    Floss said, “Umph,” but I could tell