the well all day wasn’t going to do him any good either, so he walked to the house with as much ease as he could muster and fetched the figs.
When he came back out he paused. “You’re a fool to refuse my offer,” Talen called. He hefted the hoggin onto his shoulder, gave the farm one last glance, and headed back out to the fields. This time Blue and Queen came with him, Conroy bringing up the rear.
On the way he began to think of ways to catch the hatchlings. He wasn’t going to be able to corner them like normal animals. Oh, no. He was going to need something entirely different.
Talen distributed the figs and passed the water to Ke. Nettle sat on the trunk of tree Ke and River had just felled. Next to him leaned the two-man saw. A strand of Talen’s hair had come out of the leather string Talen had tied it with. After Sabin’s yank this morning, Talen was about ready to have Nettle hack it all off with his knife. But he undid the string, gathered his hair up, and said, “You said you wanted to do something real? Well, we’ve got ourselves a whale of an opportunity.”
Nettle plopped a fig in his mouth. “What do you mean?”
Talen faced the three of them. “I spotted the trouser thief.”
“Somebody actually stole your pants?” asked Nettle.
Ke rolled his eyes.
“Not somebody,” said Talen. “The hatchling. And we are going to get the bounty.”
Nettle blinked.
“What are you talking about?” asked Ke.
Talen related what had happened back at the house.
“We need to alert the bailiff or territory lord,” said Nettle.
“No, no. That’s exactly what we shouldn’t do. We don’t want some idiot Mokaddian getting the reward.”
“Excuse me?” said Nettle. “I don’t think Mokaddians were the problem this time.”
“I’m not talking about you,” said Talen. “You know that isn’t what I mean. Think about what people will say when a Koramite brings them in.”
“Except we’re not full Koramite,” said Ke.
“That isn’t the point,” said Talen. “We have an opportunity.”
“Did you see their faces?” asked River.
“There was only one of them.”
“But did you see more than a leg?”
“No.”
“Then it could have been anybody. It could have been a beggar. Could have been some stranger passing through.”
“Nobody can run that fast.”
“Come on,” said Ke. “We’d all love to catch us one. But it takes fifty to a hundred men to conduct a proper hunt.”
“Not to catch children,” said Talen. “Besides, I’ve worked it out. All we need is a counterweight and a rope.”
“Have you forgotten Da’s last words?” asked River. “This is how innocent people get killed.”
“Somebody was there,” said Talen.
“Then we keep our wits about us,” said River, “and our eyes open.”
“And our knives at the ready,” said Nettle. He looked up at Talen, the turning of his mind showing in his eyes. “This isn’t one of your pig-brained jokes, is it?”
“No pigs,” said Talen. “And I don’t intend on getting close enough to use a knife. I’m perfectly happy to use my bow.”
At the far end of the dog warren underneath the sod house Sugar lay still as stone, her back pressed into the dirt wall. She hugged Legs to her chest. Above her head a monstrous yellow spider scuttled along the underside of the floorboards.
“I think he’s gone,” said Legs. “I can only hear the breeze.”
She was hungry and thirsty. Her hair was full of dirt and filth. She had taken great comfort in the dogs, but now realized how childish that was.
“We’re not safe,” she said. “This place is not safe.”
BATTLE
I
t was almost midday and Argoth kept himself hidden behind a screen made by an immense rock and a thick clump of blackberry briar. With him on this side of the steep ravine were fifteen of the best fighters the Shoka had. The same number had concealed themselves on the other side of the ravine. All lay in wait, their bows ready.
The mouth of the ravine opened up onto a wide meadow, deep with brown and dark green grasses. A stream ran through the meadow and out of sight behind a thick grove of river birch on the far end.
Argoth looked at the group with him, gauging them. There were a few young men here of Nettle’s age. He wondered, should he have brought the boy? Nettle was eager. He was of age. And when he’d demanded to know why he couldn’t come, Argoth had no answer. Nettle was skilled, but he just wasn’t ready.