“So you’re really going to try it? You’ll freeze.” Sofie rubbed her shoe across the frost covered grass. A slight mist rose from the pond behind the GraviTych building.
“Sure. I won’t get wet.” Jessie held onto a short rope with a water ski handle on one end and a curved sail made of the gravity blanket material on the other.
“You can’t find anything else to invent. It’s cold, why don’t you come up with something… warm… or wait for next summer.” Sofie crossed her arms trying to keep out the cold.
“C’mon, if this works we can go water skiing whenever we want.” Jessie slipped a foot under a leather belt wrapped around an old wood plank.
“Just what are you girls up to?” Olivia said as she walked up from the building.
“We’re not doing anything wrong.” Jessie looked up guiltily.
Olivia laughed. “I’m not yelling at you, I’m just wondering what kind of mischief you’re getting yourselves into.”
“She wants to go water skiing.” Sofie grinned.
“Water…what?” Olivia asked.
“Skiing, you know like getting pulled behind a boat.” Sofie answered.
“Well, whatever.” Olivia shrugged. “I just wondered if you girls would want this.” She held out a blue gravity inductor.
Jessie stopped fiddling with the board’s belt and stood staring curiously at Olivia. “Why would you give us one?”
“They said this one had some kind of manufacturing flaw… cosmetic only.”
Sofie saw it wasn’t nicely rounded the others she had seen as there was a brown hump on its ‘belly’. “You sure it’s good? Why don’t you give it to the engineers?”
“The manufacturer wanted to throw it away and I thought of you girls. I know you’ve been wanting one.” Olivia gave a wry grin.
Jessie reached for it but stopped; her hand only inches away. “I’m not sure… I think dad wanted to give one to us, but was afraid that YOU would be mad. I don’t get it.”
“Jess, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Sofie snatched up the inductor. “I… didn’t mean to call you a horse.” She said over her shoulder to Olivia as she ran off. Jessie hesitated only a second before running after her.
“Remember, you didn’t get this from me!” Olivia smiled after them then looked curiously at Jessie’s modified tow rope floating in front of her. She waited for the girls to slip into the building before tucking it under her arm.
Alec's Dream Page 9
