VI
CHEATING DEATH
“Why are you laughing?” Felix demanded, staring across the table at Rufio like Agamemnon at the walls of Troy.
Rufio shook his head. “I’m not!” Rufio answered.
“Oh really? Your cheeks are puffed out and your face is reddening by the second like an excited satyr.”
Now it was Clara’s turn to laugh out loud as she wiped her face with a cloth napkin from the table before her.
Rufio joined her and, for a brief moment, he felt freed of the constraints he had fastened upon himself.
The gaiety did not last long however, for Felix slumped back in his chair to look upon them with supreme disappointment. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. “You think I’m joking?”
This is going to be more difficult than I thought. Rufio nodded, his eyes watering from the exerci
