Page 67 of Finding Little Fiera

As Fiera scanned the crowd, all she saw was a sea of shocked, judgmental, or angry faces. All over something she didn’t do. The only people she no longer saw were Sadie, Wren, and Daisy. Fiera was all alone.

Heat crawled up her neck, filling her face. She wanted to disappear. It was her, facing a crowd of strangers. Where was Master Mace? He should be there. She beat back her tears. The last thing she needed to do was cry. It would make her look guilty. Worse, it would make her look weak.

Suddenly, it was all too much. Her body made decisions on its own. Without any conscious thought, Fiera dropped to the floor, still on her feet, but curled around herself into some weird fetal position.

She needed to say something. She had to tell them she would never cheat.

Then warm, strong arms lifted her from the ground. She recognized his scent before she saw him. Her Daddy was there. She twisted in his arms, wrapping herself around him. It was like he was a wall between her and the rest of the world.

“Chair,” he barked out. And just like that, she was sitting in his lap with his arms holding her close. “Master Gavin, would you please tell me what is going on here?”

“I was just about to ask that myself,” Master Gavin said. He didn’t sound any happier than her Daddy. “Laura, would you like to explain why you think Fiera cheated on her painting?”

Laura had gone pale, but she nodded. Running back to Fiera’s table, Laura returned with the paints Fiera had used. “See, Master Gavin? Her painting has colors that she didn’tmake herself. She used special paints none of the rest of us had. That means she cheated. Her sky is so pretty, but it’s because she broke the rules.”

“Master Gavin,” Mace said, his voice soft but firm, “I don’t know how Fiera painted her sky, but I do know she would never willfully, knowingly cheat. My babygirl is not a cheater.”

What had he… was he saying… did he just stand up for her without even hearing her side of the story? She’d never had a Daddy believe in her like that. Her pulse slowed, and everything in her world settled.

Her Daddy trusted her. He believed in her. And no one else mattered.

She wanted to prove to him that his faith in her wasn’t misplaced. “I… I didn’t cheat. I would never do that.”

Master Mace squeezed her in a way that felt like a hug.

“Can you tell us how you came up with the color combinations in your painting, Fiera?” Master Gavin’s voice was kind and gentle.

“Well, I did use color other than the ones I got from the supply table. I didn’t know we couldn’t use other colors. And I wouldn’t have had them in the first place if Laura hadn’t given them to me.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Laura. She shook her head so hard Fiera wondered how she didn’t fall.

“I didn’t give her anything, Master Gavin. She’s lying again, just to get me in trouble. You can ask anyone sitting at my table. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Master Gavin turned to the girls standing behind Laura, the ones who’d sat at Laura’s table and made fun of her, too. One of them said, “She didn’t go anywhere near Fiera’s table. Fiera is just blaming Laura out of spite.”

Out of the blue, the voice Fiera needed to hear more than anyone else in the world said, “Spite for what?” Master Mace asked.

The girls all looked at him as if he’d asked them to calculate the distance to the sun and back.

“I don’t know,” one of the girls managed to say.

Another chimed in with, “She’s just a spiteful person.”

“I am not!” Fiera yelled, unable to keep quiet.

Her Daddy cleared his throat, and when Fiera turned to him, he tugged on his ear. That was one of the hand signals they’d worked out that morning on the way to breakfast. Tugging on his ear meant she should wait and listen.

With great reluctance, Fiera nodded.

What she couldn’t figure out was why she had missed the instructions about not using other paints. Then it hit her. That was when everyone at Laura’s table had been heckling her. That was when Sadie had scowled at her and seemed so angry.

Remembering that hurt her heart. Maybe she could talk her Daddy into heading back to Wilder right now. It occurred to her that, if everyone believed she cheated, they might ask her to leave. What if she had to leave without her Daddy? He wasn’t finished running the summer camp rodeo. She really didn’t want to have to go back to Wilder all alone.

Before anyone else could speak, Master Gavin’s phone rang. He answered the call, listened, and said, “That sounds good. We’ll be right there.”

“Be right where?” Mace asked.

Master Gavin shook his head. “I swear, Master Derek is psychic. Apparently, he’s already heard of our little dilemma and wants us all in his office right now. He’s pulled Laura’s Daddy out of the seminar he was attending and he’ll meet us there.”