A Parthan Summer by Julie Steimle (best books for 8th graders TXT) 📖

“But you did mean to kick me in the face that other time. Admit it.”

“So I did. You deserved it,” he said.

Zormna stopped walking, looking likely to throw him off her arm. “Deserved it? How? You were going to steal a shuttle. What was I supposed to do? Let you go? As an officer, I had to use whatever force necessary to stop you.”

“Including break my nose?” Jeff demanded with a glare at her.

“I told you. I didn’t mean to do that! You hit your head on a step. I didn’t punch you there or anything.” Then with more self-righteous indignation, she added, “Besides, some of the other officers would have broken your leg and wouldn’t have cared less.”

“Oh, so that makes it all better.” He tried to go on without her help, staggering up the hill.

Zormna growled to herself but helped Jeff over the rocks anyway, much to his surprise. He had suspected she had an inner wish to push him off the hill and leave him there.

“Don’t be such an idiot, Jafarr,” she snapped. “You were a wanted criminal for theft and rebellion. If someone one else in the Patrol had gotten a hold of you—” He snorted since the likelihood of anyone catching him except Zormna had been slim to begin with. “—they would not have thought twice about beating you into submission like Damon tried.” She shook her head. “A person with your record should expect harsh treatment.”

“Expect it?” he snapped.

“I’m just saying…” She shook her head. “Considering the circumstances of your reputation.”

“Ho, ho! Since when did you get so mighty and pious?” Jeff replied sarcastically. 

Zormna stopped again, though it was mostly to rest from the weight of his body. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He laughed at her, leaning against a tree “My reputation? What about yours? You’ve have been taken in front of the judicial council more than I have!”

Zormna narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t care about what you read in my records. I wasn’t ever guilty of rebellion or theft.”

“Maybe not.” Jeff gave her a smug smile, wincing as he shifted his weight. “But reckless flying, betting scams, malicious pranks….”

“I was framed in that betting scam case,” Zormna rolled her eyes as she huffed, lifting him up again so they could walk further. “And I was acquitted on the last reckless flying sentence.”

He still laughed though. “Only two marks shorter in a legacy of mischief.”

“That doesn’t even matter anyway,” she said frowning at the path as they both trudged on. “I grew out of that. I haven’t had a spot on my record since that time.”

“So…putting laxative in that Harvest girl’s food wasn’t part of that legacy of mischief?” He snorted.

She chuckled, shaking her head. “I consider that backsliding at little. But she deserved it.”

Jeff snorted.

“Anyway.” Zormna sighed. “Let’s just forget it, okay Jafarr? You win. I know you want to win against me, for once. Fine. So both of us are troublemakers. Big deal. We’re still stuck in the middle of this wild land far from Home, and we need to make it bearable.”

Jeff closed his eyes, grimacing in pain as they continued down the path. They were heading downhill now and had reached the switchbacks. Keeping him from falling was even more difficult going downhill than uphill. He slipped a few times on leaves of this slope, relying on her not slip and fall with him. The fact that she had not left him in the woods to die still felt like some kind of impossible thing. She could have let Damon punch him into pieces. Instead she had stopped to save an old enemy, and that left him quietly introspective.

“I’ll forget it if you promise me one thing,” Jeff finally said, taking a painful breath and leaning on her shoulder more.

Zormna looked up, surprised to hear him speak after all that silence. “What?”

“Stop calling me Jafarr, and call me Jeff—please.”

“I try…” Zormna murmured. “Believe me, I do. But…” She chuckled, stepping down the rock face slowly while kicking away loose stones so he wouldn’t trip on them “Jeff? I really don’t like the sound of the name Jeff. It is too blunt and awkward. Besides, your mother must have really loved you to have given you a name like Jafarr.”

Jeff halted where he was. “What did you say?”

Zormna sighed. “Named after the most wonderful hero in our history—Zeldar Tarrn. The famous Jafarr. Fighter for the people. It is such a powerful name.”

Jeff felt like he had been knocked off his feet again. He lifted his eyebrows at her.  “You think my name sounds powerful?”

She blushed as if she had revealed a deep and embarrassing secret. Averting her face so he couldn’t look into it, she said, “Don’t get any ideas. I don’t mean anything by it.”

He laughed. His sides still ached when he did, so he stopped after a few chuckles.

They walked a while in silence again, cresting hills, turning corners and reaching the switchbacks.

“I used to dream about him,” Zormna murmured after a while, continuing on.

As he walked with her, he listened more intently.

“Zeldar had kind eyes. And he was patient,” she said. “He looked at me like he knew me. Like he could see such hope for me. Like a friend.”

“Are you serious?” Jeff murmured.

Zormna sighed. “Yeah. Though I don’t know if those dreams were real or not.” She looked at him. “You were in them too. Sometimes you were a real big jerk. Other times you were…less of a creep.”

But Jeff stared. He opened his mouth to say something.

“Jeff!” Brian Henderson ran up the switchback, closely followed by Jonathan, Mark, Joy and several others from the wrestling team. They grabbed him, helping carry him the rest of the way.

“We almost kicked the crap out of Damon when we passed him,” Mark said.

“Joy told us everything.” Brian took Zormna’s place, relieving her arms of Jeff’s weight.

Zormna stepped back, glancing to Joy who immediately hugged Zormna with relief. “I was so scared!”

They walked back together. But there was little remaining distance to the camp.

Brian had Jeff retell what had happened as they walked. Sharing a brief look with Zormna, Jeff merely shrugged and summed up, “They jumped me, and Zormna scared them off before they could break anything.”

The boys exchanged looks. After all, they often jokingly called Zormna a super-ninja, and Jeff did not elaborate on how Zormna scared them off. Zormna said nothing. She walked with Joy, unusually subdued.

When they entered the camp, the Pennington wrestling team carried Jeff to Mr. Hardt’s office first. Jeff kept waving for them to take him to his cabin instead so he could just lie down and recover, but the moment they entered the director’s office and Mr. Hardt laid eyes on him, he ranted for them to take Jeff to the infirmary. They had been recounting the event loudly and angrily with the simple declaration that Damon and his buddies jumped Jeff on the hike and the two girls caught them at it.

“But aren’t you going to do something about those Monroe guys?” Brian snapped, lifting Jeff out of the chair they had just sat him in.

Jeff groaned with a hand to his forehead, stumbling onto his feet.

Mr. Hardt shooed them dismissively towards the door, staring at yet more evidence that Pennington wrestlers were all sweaty thugs. “I will look into your claims. But I hardly doubt any boy from the Monroe would be foolish enough to ‘jump’ as you say, this boy on that hike.”

“But—”

“I understand there is a rivalry between your schools,” Mr. Hardt continued, not letting them get a word in as he pointed to the door. “But this camp is neutral ground. Now take him to the infirmary immediately.”

“But—”

“Go!” Mr. Hardt practically shoved them out the door.

“He’s from Monroe, I bet,” Mark muttered, glaring back at Mr. Hardt’s office as they carried Jeff across the gravel parking lot to the nurse’s cabin.

“Probably,” Brian nodded grimly.

Jeff rolled his eyes as he declared loud, “Can someone just please put me down?”

And they did put him down, right into the infirmary cot, with Coach Murphy and their cabin counselor converging on them. Both men demanded to know what had happened.  

Everyone looked to Zormna who had been in silent reverie since the wrestling team came and took over the job of carrying Jeff. She had stood outside the lodge when Mr. Hardt had chased the boys out.

She glanced up and blinked when Joy nudged her in the side.

“So? Is what Streigle says true? Did Pikes jump him on the trail?” Coach Murphy asked her.

Zormna peered irritably at the coach, folding her arms. “You doubt his word? He didn’t get that way falling off a cliff.”

Brian and friends glared back out the infirmary doorway, thinking about those from Monroe High.

“And you and Joy found him?” the wrestling coach asked.

Jeff moaned, expecting the worst. He knew Zormna had no humility when it came to her abilities.

“Found?” Zormna said, glancing at him. “Coach, we didn’t find him beaten up. I saw him get beaten up. Four against one. Monroe boys. And I can name one of them at least.”

“Who?”

“Damon Pikes,” she said, sounding annoyed.

“Well, that’s obvious,” muttered the wrestlers.

“So they stopped when they saw you?” the coach asked.

Zormna peeked at Joy then looked to the floor as she said, “Yeah.”

Jeff stared, wondering why she didn’t brag this time around.

Joy stared at her also, confused. She looked to Brian who also gazed at Zormna in surprise.

But Joy said, “Coach, they didn’t stop when they saw us. They tried to shove us out. Zormna—”

“That’s enough,” Zormna said. She shook her head at Joy. “We need to get back to our group. Michelle is probably wondering where we ended up.”

Joy gaped, exasperated. “I don’t care. You almost got yourself killed, jumping in that fight. They should know.”

“You jumped into the fight?” Coach Murphy asked with disbelief, looking the tiny cheerleader up and down also.

Zormna glanced at Jeff, closed her eyes and nodded.

Jeff moaned on his cot. He turned to face the wall.

Coach Murphy looked over at Jeff who covered his head from embarrassment. “I think I need to hear your story one more time, from the top.”

Glancing back, Jeff sighed.

As Jeff told the story, just adding the barest detail that Zormna helped him ward off the boys, Zormna waited without a word for his sake. She could tell he was hurting in other ways besides physically. Once he had finished with his retelling, she cleared her throat and said, “Can I go now? I’m tired.”

They all gaped at her except for Jeff who continued to stare at the wall, hoping she would go.

“No,” said Coach Murphy. “You need to see Director Hardt and give your side to the story after he is done with the Monroe boys.”

“Fine,” Zormna grumbled. Then she turned toward Jeff and said, “Take care of yourself.” She then looked to the others. “And somebody better give him a guard.”

“Oh, please,” Jeff growled back.

She smirked at him. “You need to be in top shape when the FBI come calling.”

He groaned, putting a hand over his face.

Joy cringed, peeking to her brother.

“FBI?” Brian stared.

The coaches looked tired, sure she was joking. Apparently no one had told them about the early visit. Not even Miss Betiford.

But Joy nodded.

Her brother and his two pals stared. Only a few truly knew the FBI were following Zormna.

“Ok, you kids are crazy,” Coach Murphy murmured. He then nodded to Zormna. “You need to come with me to Mr. Hardt.”

“I doubt he’d want to see me again,” Zormna muttered. Though, she left with the coach.

Mr. Hardt had in fact summoned Damon and his friends to the director’s office as soon as Jeff’s pals had left. And since the Monroe boys had yet to clean up from the fight, it was quite plain they had been involved in a brawl of some kind. But then there were some things they would not have been able to clean up anyway. Aaron had a black eye, and Joe had several bruises