"You know that I can't catch you if you try, don't you?" Oliver said.
"Don't make fun of me. I know what I'm doing… I've seen this a thousand times…" Nila tried to talk a big game, but the stake shifted again, and with a rather feminine yelp, she abandoned her position and jumped back to the shore, leaving the stake standing at an angle, just a finger away from jumping in.
"Is that a tactical retreat, or are you fleeing?" Oliver said.
She looked at him crossly. "It's because you'd already weakened them. I bet when you first jumped across, they were far more stable."
"If that is what you choose to believe, then I will not correct you. However, does that look like a troublesome ask to you?" Oliver said. He made a point of sticking out his right leg as far as he could, and showing off his single legged balance, without hardly swaying.
