Teaser Tuesday - a little late

I am going to give the Teaser Tuesday a try. This is from my contemporary/fantasy Young Adult novel - "The Lion Inside."

Renna Healy got on her hands and knees to reach the animal huddled under a bush. “Oh my gosh, it’s a lion cub,” she said picking it up and cradling it. “It doesn’t look very good. We need to find its mother.”

“You want us to search for a pride of lions?” asked Sean Taylor, Renna’s best friend.

“Yep. I bet they’re close. The cub’s too small to have wandered far. If we can’t find the lions, I promise we’ll go to the village and ask for help,” Renna said scanning the treeless savannah. Their Kenyan village looked hazy in the distance.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Sean rolled his eyes.

The dehydrated cub gazed at her and meowed. Renna held it closer to her body. “You’ll be okay,” she murmured to the baby.

“Fine, we’ll look, but if I’m eaten by a lion it’s entirely your fault,” Sean said pointing his finger at her, his English accent thickening with anger.

Renna smiled, shading her eyes as she squinted at his handsome face. She was two months away from fifteen, old enough to be crazy about a boy, but smart enough to hide it. Sean was a year older and she thought he was the greatest person she’d ever met. She didn’t want to ruin things by liking him. Plus, Renna had no idea how long it would be until she and her dad moved again, so she tried not to get too attached – although that wasn’t working very well.

“I can’t believe that after a year you’re still putting up with my crazy adventures,” Renna said. “You know, of all the countries I’ve lived in, Kenya is the most exciting.” She kept talking, trying to keep Sean’s mind off the fact that they were looking for, not running from, a pride of lions. “There are so many amazing things here. I’ve got a million images to paint. I think my dad even likes it. He was just saying--”

“Shhh. Did you hear that?” Sean turned towards an area of high golden grass and thorny bushes.

“Maybe the cub’s mother found us,” Renna said.

“This isn’t cool. We should be back at my Mum’s house starting history, not traipsing about the bush looking for something dangerous.” Sean said. Sweat dripped down his forehead as the noon sun beat down on them.

“Do you want to go back and tell her I’ll be late for our next subject? I don’t want you to get in trouble again because of me,” she said.

Sean’s mom, Georgia Taylor, was their home-school teacher. Renna had felt the wraith of Mrs. Taylor before and wanted to keep it from happening again. Every time Renna suggested they go exploring over their lunch hour, Mrs. Taylor would remind Renna that her boy was built for the city, not the country side. Renna on the other hand could make it work anywhere she lived.

“I’m not going to leave you alone, stupid,” he tugged her long, brown pony tail. “What am I going to do with you?” He peeked at the lion cub snuggled against her chest, and sighed.