Steamborn Read Free Page A

language.” Miss Penny turned away and started talking to two seated women.
    “I’m ready for the toe crusher,” Alice said.
    Jacob turned to her and narrowed his eyes. “That’s not funny. I can sit this one out if you’d prefer.”
    “Hey, they’re not your toes,” she said, completely disregarding his second comment. “I can make jokes about my crushed toes if I want to.” She had a point, but he’d never tell her that.
    Jacob glanced back at the seated women, and his dread of dancing died off. Miss Penny had brought in two actual musicians for rehearsal. It made all the toe crushing jokes worth it, just to hear them play.
    One of them held a guitar, and the other had an instrument Jacob had never seen before.
    “What is that?” he asked as Alice took his hand.
    She put her arms out and began to flow toward the musicians. “It’s a cello,” Alice said. He’d heard of them, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing one played. The strings came to life in the woman’s hands. A bow made of hair moved gracefully across the instrument, filling the Hall with a layered sound that brought everything else to silence.
    Alice spun on the third beat, and Jacob moved his hand to the small of her back. Miss Penny had drilled the waltz pattern into their heads for almost two months now. Not surprising, since their big performance at Festival was coming up soon, after all.
    Jacob took two small steps and swooped forward with Alice for a big step as they slowly turned with the rest of the dance floor. He kept his eyes on the musicians when he could—that is, when Alice’s hair didn’t get in the way. The guitar was subtle, letting the cello breathe without struggling.
    Alice giggled as Jacob spun her around again. He even found himself smiling at Alice while her skirt twirled and the music slowly died away. All the kids applauded. It wasn’t often they received a treat like live music. It was usually the old hand-cranked music box with the big discs that weighed as much as he did.
    “Didn’t step on my toes once,” Alice said.
    Jacob looked down at her feet, and then met her bright green eyes. “Not once?”
    “Nope. Apparently we just need music for you not to be a complete klutz.”
    The musicians bowed and began packing away their instruments.
    Miss Penny clapped her hands together and beamed at the room. “Not perfect. A little sloppy in the form, yes, but good job, all of you. Now, if you can do that at Festival tomorrow, I won’t need to throw any of you off the cliff.”
    Jacob blinked and stared at Miss Penny. Sometimes she could be a little crazy. Miss Penny crooked her finger at him and he walked toward her, shoulders slumped. He wasn’t sure why Alice followed him over.
    “Are you hurt?” Miss Penny asked.
    Jacob furrowed his brow and looked up at her.
    “From earlier? You scared me when you slid down that pole.”
    “I … I thought you were mad.”
    Miss Penny shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “Yeah,” Alice said, “then I wouldn’t have anyone to dance with.”
    Miss Penny laughed and nodded at Alice. “Are your hands okay? It’s a long way down those poles.”
    Jacob fished around in his larger pockets that ran from his thigh to his knee. He pulled out the gloves Charles had given him. The little metal scales woven into the palms and fingers clinked as he turned them over to show Miss Penny.
    “Oh my,” she said. “I see.” She brushed one of the coppery scales with her fingers.
    Jacob placed his gloves in his pockets once more when it became obvious Miss Penny wasn’t going to do anything else with them.
    “Be careful, Jacob. I don’t want to have to tell your mother something terrible has happened to you.”
    “I’ll have my white shoes on tomorrow,” Alice said, “so try not to step on them. Or something terrible will happen to you.”
    Miss Penny smiled at Alice.
    “Well,” Jacob said, “we’ll have real musicians there too, so maybe I