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STARTLING STORIES
Xiao-wu nodded and looked down at his feet. His grip on the root ball tightened, but the moist dirt calmed him. He lifted his gaze and stared directly into Todd’s eyes. “More than anything,” he replied quietly.
Fatima stomped her foot again.
“Double or nothing,” Todd said without looking at Fatima.
Fatima hesitated. “Double?”
“Jorge, how many beats?” Todd asked.
Jorge counted on his fingers as if trying to remember. “Forty.”
Todd turned back to Fatima and Xiao-wu. “Who’s willing to take eighty?”
Fatima paled. “But HE broke the rules!”
“Fatima’s right,” Esperanza said, stand-ing tall and towering. “The Quan must be fair.”
“Ok, Fatima, what’s fair?” Todd asked.
Fatima studied the yellow flower in Xiao-wu’s hands. She bit her lower lip. “Umm, triple?”
Todd n
