with sheep like you, Traveler's brat," he sneered. "As for your brother - if I'd realized he was crazy I'd have just slit his throat that day, a mercy killing, like I'd do to any other poor beast."
Until Olbeck's words reminded her, Rinnie'd almost forgotten that Storne and Lehr had once been best friends. But something had happened several years ago, Lehr wouldn't say what, and he'd even quit going with Papa to the mill.
"I'll tell Jes you'd like to meet him again," said Lehr pleasantly. "I'll relay your exact words to him. I'm sure he'll be impressed - since you've never so much as gutted a cow. Rinnie, why don't you go home and let us talk a bit."
"No, Rinnie," said Olbeck. He smiled at her, "I think you'd better just stay there. The two of us can have a conversation after we've finished... conversing with your brother."
Lehr turned to her and whispered, "Run, Rinnie, now. Don't stop until you get home."
Knowing that without her there, the other boys wouldn't be as interested in fighting, she fled back up the hill as fast as she could without looking back, the small knife cold in her fist. Home wasn't so far away. If she could get within hearing distance she could call Gura. Even a grown man would think twice before taking on the big dog.
She heard the dull thud of fist on flesh before she topped the ravine. But she couldn't worry about the fight now because at least one of them had gotten past Lehr and was trailing her up the side of the ridge. She could hear him crashing through the brush like an ox.
When she reached the trail and her footing was more certain she glanced back and saw that it was Olbeck who'd taken up the chase, and she stretched out to run as fast as she ever had.
With Olbeck following her, Lehr had a chance. Storne was the only one of the boys who had enough muscle to give Lehr a real fight. Her brother was tough as an old wolf; he'd use the rough terrain to his advantage.
The trail's upward slope robbed her legs of speed and her chest of breath, but she didn't dare slow down. Her eyes were focused firmly on the ground in front of her. When someone reached out and snagged her off her feet she thought it was Olbeck.
She kicked him once, before she realized it was Jes and stilled, gasping for breath. He set her down gently, the expression on his face different than she'd ever seen it. She didn't have time to understand what the difference was before he stepped in front of her and turned his attention to Olbeck.
"Thought I told you stay out of my woods," said Jes, only it didn't sound like Jes at all. Menace clung to his voice and promise. The familiar singsong softness was gone as if it had never been.
"These aren't your woods," said Olbeck, who'd stopped a few lengths down the trail, though he didn't sound intimidated. "My father is steward for the Sept. If these are anyone's woods, they are mine."
Safe behind Jes, she couldn't see the expression on his face, but Olbeck blanched.
"Run, boy," purred Jes. "See if you can outrun your nightmares."
Rinnie tried to step around Jes's shoulder, but he stepped sideways, keeping her behind him. Showing the whites of his eyes like a spooked horse, Olbeck turned and ran.
"There're still two fighting Lehr," Rinnie rasped and then threw up.
It was messy and nasty, as she had to gasp for air between convulsions. Jes gathered her hair out of the way and waited for her to finish.
"Ran too fast," he said. "Lehr's down that way?"
She spat to clear the taste out of her mouth. "Yes. Toward the fishing hole you showed him in the creek," she said. "It's Storne and Lukeeth."
Jes looked at her, and the oddness was still there - a sharpness she wasn't used to seeing. "All right, now?"
"Yes," she said.
He nodded and took off at a jog. It took her a moment to recover her breath. As soon as she knew she wasn't going to be sick again, she scrambled to her feet and headed down after Jes. Somehow with Jes there she wasn't afraid of the village-boys anymore. She wouldn't have thought that Jes, of all people, could make her feel safe.
Going down the trail was less demanding than her run up it had been. She made it to the place