Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,69

her, my pleasant thoughts dissipating. “If he thinks this valley is his new home?”

“Then it’s our new home, too,” she jokes. “And we become vegetarian.” When I am silent, she wraps her arms around me from behind, hugging my neck. “J’shel, please don’t worry, all right?”

Her teats press enticingly against my back and her scent envelops me. I am torn between my thoughts of Old Grandfather…and her body. It is a frustrating mixture. I touch her arm, surprised that she is the one reassuring me. I thought she would weep as she did so many times back at the main camp. Or that she would resort to counting and hoarding the food so as to make it last.

But she has not done those things. Instead, she has been comforting me. Touching me. Worrying over me. I caress her arm, leaning into her. “You are not as upset as I thought you would be, my little flower.”

“Hm, yeah, I guess not.” Her breath tickles my cheek. “It’s surprising to me, too, but you know why I’m not all that worried?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re here,” she says, her voice gentle. “You’ll keep me safe. As long as you’re here to protect me, I’m not really worried about anything.”

Her words are sweet, but somehow, they do not make me feel better. I picture my H’nah, utterly certain that I will protect her…and my spear bouncing off the hide of Old Grandfather. Of H’nah’s leg snapping off just below the knee, like N’dek’s did, and I am helpless to do anything but watch…

I scrub a hand down my face.

“He just arrived,” she reassures me with another little squeeze. “He might disappear overnight and then this will all be worry over nothing. Now, let’s just enjoy ourselves for a bit, okay? We weren’t planning on leaving today anyhow. Let’s eat some fruit and relax. Which ones are the melon-flavored things again? You’ll have to show me.”

Her tone has changed to that bossy edge, and she pats my shoulder and leaves my side, heading toward the fruit-laden vines that spill all down the cavern walls. I get to my feet to follow her, but I cannot just relax as she says.

I think of the dead sa-kohtsk outside. I think of N’dek. I think of my spear, and how it feels when it leaves my hand. I think of Old Grandfather.

There are a dozen things I must do to prepare for attacking the great sky-claw outside, because I must protect my mate at any cost.

I cannot fail her like I failed N’dek.

15

HANNAH

I worry about J’shel all day long.

The laughing, confident, smiling alien is gone and in his place is a silent warrior. I do my best to distract him, but it’s clear he’s only listening with half an ear. His focus is on sharpening weapons, preparing nets made out of vines, and throwing his spear.

He throws his damn spear all day long.

All.

Damn.

Day.

Long.

Over and over, he flings it at a target he’s made out of a hollowed-out fruit. He smacks the target over and over again with first his top right arm, then his left arm. Then he switches to his lower arms, and then he takes a few steps back and starts all over again. He moves the target farther away. He moves it nearer. He moves it to the next ledge.

Over and over, he throws the damn spear until I’m pretty sure I’ll hear the shhhhTHOK of it landing in my dreams.

On the rare occasions that he misses, J’shel makes a furious sound in the back of his throat, clenches his jaw, and then starts all over again as if the occasional bad throw means he has to start from scratch. There’s a tortured look on his face and I’m guessing that somewhere in his mind, he’s imagining N’dek and that terrible day and blaming himself all over again.

So I sit quietly and wait. I eat fruit and watch him throw, which really isn’t much of a hardship. He gets all sweaty and slick, his tail flicking back and forth, and I’m fascinated by those gleaming, taut arms and the beauty of his movements. I fart around with some sewing—because what else am I going to do? And I nap. I’m pretty sure I nap all afternoon, and when I wake up, he’s still at it, grim determination written into his features. He’s covered in sweat, and for the first time, I see him panting with exertion.

I yawn and get to my feet, glancing at the entrance to