Book One of the Travelers Read Free Page B

will you keep an open mind too?”
    Seegen placed his paw over Kasha’s. “Agreed. That is only fair.”
    â€œSo you will come to the game and cheer our team?” she asked.
    â€œYou must!” Boon exclaimed. “With Kasha on our side we have a shot at the championship this year!”
    Seegen looked from Boon to Kasha. “I can see this means a lot to you.”
    Kasha nodded. “It does.”
    â€œThen I will be there, daughter. If it is important to you, it is important to me.”
    â€œExcellent!” Boon said. “Yorn, you should come too. The more cheering us on from the stands the better.”
    â€œI would not miss it!” Yorn said. “Not with both of you playing.”
    Kasha felt better. She was sure when her father saw her play, he’d change his mind. She would prove to him that wippen was a grand sport—a game of honor and skill. She’d make him as proud of her performance on the wippen field as he was of her work as a forager.

T HREE
    K asha lapped up water greedily. Her fur was matted with sweat. She’d played hard, and they were taking their first and only break in the wippen game.
    â€œLooking good out there!” Boon said.
    Kasha nodded. She felt it too. The team was in complete synch, moving as if they were one mind, one body. And she was really on her game today.
    She paced back and forth in the Blue Team break area. She needed to keep her muscles warm and her focus sharp. Wippen took physical strength, skill, quick reflexes, and good strategy.
    She gazed around the stadium. The huge arena was packed. They were nearing the end of the tournament, and each game had higher stakes than the last one. These next three games between Kasha’s Blue Team and the opposing Red Team would determine who won the championship.
    Seats were filled all the way to the bamboo walls that surrounded the grassy field. To one side was the corralholding the zenzens the klees rode; on the other side was the area where the gars waited to enter the game.
    Each team began with twenty gars—ten on the field and ten as backup. Gars were used to steal or pass the ball, and as goalies. Only klees could actually make goals, and they could steal from one another, so gars were also used to block and clear paths for the klees atop the zenzens. As they tired or were injured, new gars would be sent in. In particularly heated games, teams could find themselves without gars at all by the end, forcing the klee players to battle it all out on zenzens. Injuries were common—more among gars, but plenty of klees got hurt too.
    The Blue Team coach, Jorsa, strode into the break area. “The Red Team’s forward klees are stronger riders than passers,” she said. “Force them to pass to their teammates.”
    â€œThe gars are doing their passing for them,” Kasha said.
    â€œExactly,” Jorsa said. “We take out the gars, we put them in a weaker position.”
    â€œGot it!” Kasha said.
    â€œYou and Boon are our strongest riders,” Jorsa continued. “You keep the forwards from being able to pass the ball.”
    Kasha glanced up into the stands. She hadn’t risked checking to see if her father was here before—she’d been too nervous. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to find him out there or not. She would have been disappointed to discover he hadn’t come, but if he was here, she’d feel even more pressure to play well.
    There he was, sitting with Yorn. This was the very first time he had ever come to a game. He really was keeping an open mind. She tingled under her fur with pride.
    Now he’d see what an exciting game this was, and that there was nothing wrong with it. Good. She was glad she had looked. Energy surged through her. She was ready for the final half.
    â€œEveryone, remount your zenzens!” Jorsa called.
    Kasha retrieved her “scoop”—the long-handled stick with a net