off and picking up their washing means she’s never short on gossip. I’m not surprised to find her eavesdropping on a meeting of the Three in the middle of the night, in the black of a frigid tunnel.
“The Council always lets the community know when the Scourge shows signs of leaving,” Aloe says, her voice stern. “You know that.”
“Yes, but there’s been talk. Rumors that the Lofties are taking our water because they know the flesh-eaters aren’t leaving quickly this time,” Thistle says. “I thought Fennel might know more.”
“The girl doesn’t know anything,” Adder says coldly. “But you, on the other hand, know better than to snoop around, listening to the Council’s private proceedings.”
“We’ll inform the people the moment we have news of the Scourge’s departure, as always,” Sable soothes. “Now come with me.” He and Thistle walk back along the passageway, toward the main cave.
“She’ll talk,” Aloe mutters as their footsteps fade. “The community will know everything we said by breakfast.”
“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Adder says to me. “They’ll know of your disobedience and deceit now. We’ll discuss an appropriate punishment for you, but in the meantime you might want to sleep. I have a feeling you’ll need every bit of your strength tomorrow.”
I nod and follow them back down the passage. When we reach the cave, I call to Aloe in a low voice.
“I’ll speak with you in the morning,” she says. Her voice is flat, but I hear a hint of regret. I creep back to my bedroll, where I lie awake again, wondering what the morning will bring.
“You better wake up.” Eland’s voice drifts through my troubled dreams. I try to roll over. “Come on, Fenn, wake up. This is serious."
“What happened last night?” Calli says from my other side.
I want to pull my bedroll over my head and block them out, but instead I reluctantly sit up. “What did you hear?”
“We heard the Three told you not to get water for the Lofties yesterday, but you did anyway. We heard you’re giving them extra water because somehow you know the flesh-eaters aren’t leaving. And we heard,” her voice drops lower, “you gave the Lofties more water than you brought us, but we knew that part wasn’t true.”
“That’s about the only part that is true.” I raise myself up to my elbows. “So Thistle and her prying nose and big ears overheard, and now everyone knows?”
“Yes, but that’s not all,” Eland says.
“What now?” Neither of them answers. “What is it?”
“You tell her,” Calli says, her voice breaking.
“Jackal snuck out of the caves this morning and set a fire under one of the Lofty walkways,” Eland says.
“What?” I shoot all the way up, the bedroll dropping off my shoulders.
“They shot and killed him.” Calli whimpers. “And when Rose heard, she sort of lost her mind and ran out to look for him. She hasn’t come back. Aloe went after her, but she couldn’t find her.”
“They’re both gone?” I ask.
“Mother thinks so,” Eland says.
Nausea grips me, like I swallowed one of the nasty brews our herbalist, Marjoram, concocts. Rose, Jackal, and their unborn child. I can still feel the warm swell of Rose’s belly under my hand. “This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Eland says, squeezing my shoulders. “No one made Jack go out there. He took being in the caves really hard, because of Rose and the baby and all. He kept saying he wished he could make the Lofties pay for their theft. I guess this was how he decided to do it.”
“But if I’d done exactly what the Three told me to do, maybe he wouldn’t have felt like he needed to set the fire.”
“Why didn’t you do what they said?” Calli asks gently.
“I didn’t think it was fair. I didn’t think the Lofties stole the water.” I try to explain my actions without telling them about Peree and the swim. My excuse sounds as weak this time as it did with the Three. Given the consequences, no explanation will be good enough now.
“Adder’s furious,” Eland says. “I thought his head was going to pop off when he heard about Jack and Rose. He chucked his cup against the wall. Barely missed Bream.”
“Were any Lofties hurt in the fire?”
“No, they put it out with their water,” Calli says.
Was that an accusatory note in her voice? “Then why did they kill Jackal?”
“Ask your Keeper,” she says. “Father said he was the shooter. Looks like he proved how good he was with a bow and