Kevin didn't know which was the coolest. It was a very close call between the small fire-breathing dragon on the back of Nathaniel's shoulder and the puckered white scar on the front. The scar was the result of the knife wound, which ought to have put it far ahead in the running. But a tattoo, a tattoo of a dragon,
was pretty hard to
beat.
There was another scar, just above Nathaniel's waistline, near the hip. At Alex's eager questioning, Nathaniel had said it was from a moray eel he'd tangled with in the South Pacific.
Kevin could easily imagine Nathaniel, armed with only a knife clenched between his teeth, fighting to the death with a sea creature on the scale of the Loch Ness monster.
And Nathaniel had a parrot, a big, colorful bird who sat right inside the house on a wooden perch and talked. Kevin's current favorite was Off with her head.
Kevin figured Nathaniel Fury was about the coolest man he'd ever met a man who had traveled the seven seas like Sinbad, and had the scars and stories to prove it. A man who liked puppies and talking birds.
He didn't seem to mind when Kevin hung back while Alex and Jenny raced around the yard with the puppy and killed each other with imaginary laser pistols. It was more fun to crouch close while Nathaniel hammered nails into boards.
It took Kevin about six boards to start asking questions.
How come you want a deck out here?
So I can sit on it.
Nathaniel set another board in place.
But you've already got one in the back.
I'll still have it.
Three strikes of the hammer and the nail was through board and joist. Nathaniel sat back on his haunches. He wore nothing but a bandanna twisted around his head and a pair of ragged cutoff jeans. His skin was bronzed by the sun and coated lightly with sweat.
See how the frame goes?
Kevin followed the direction of the deck frame as it skirted around the side of the house.
Uh-huh.
Well, we'll keep going till we meet the other deck.
Kevin's eyes brightened.
So it'll go all around, like a circle.
You got it.
Nathaniel hammered the next nail, and the next, then shifted positions.
How do you like the island?
He asked the question in such a natural, adult fashion that Kevin first glanced around to see if Nathaniel was speaking to him.
I like it. I like it a lot. We get to live in the castle, and I can play with Alex and Jenny anytime.
You had friends back in Oklahoma, too, right?
Sure. My best friend is John Curtis Silverhorn. He's part Comanche. My mom said he could come visit anytime, and that we can write letters all we want. I already wrote him about the whale.
Kevin smiled shyly.
I liked that the best.
We'll have to go out again.
Really? When?
Nathaniel stopped hammering and looked at the boy. He realized he should have remembered from his exposure to Alex and Jenny that when children were raised with love and trust, they believed just about everything you told them.
You can come out with me whenever you want. 'Long as your mother gives the go-ahead.
His reward for the careless offer was a brilliant smile.
Maybe I can steer the boat
again?
Yeah.
Nathaniel grinned and turned Kevin's baseball cap backward.
You could
do that. Want to nail some boards?
Kevin's eyes widened and glowed.
Okay!
Here.
Nathaniel scooted back so that Kevin could kneel in front of him.
Hold the
nail like this.
He wrapped his hands over Kevin's, showing him how to hold both the hammer and the nail to guide the stroke.
Hey!