The tanner pawed through our bundle, examining each fur with a critical stare. Then he nodded. “I can use these.” He counted out fifty bits of metal, then handed them to me.
They jingled in my palm. “What’s this?”
His look turned scornful. “Haven’t you spent any time in a real town? That’s money, you idiot. You buy things with it. Food and lodging, goods and services.”
I already didn’t like Gaspard. “Other towns use different items, like wood tokens.”
The tanner became less critical. “I didn’t know that. Interesting.”
Most likely, I was better traveled than he was, especially after the past month, but I didn’t comment further. This seemed a likely place to speak my piece, but I had misgivings. I told myself I was just hungry; and it made sense to buy some supplies since we had local chits. Once we finished our business, then I’d make my speech.
I hate this. So much.
I gave four to each person in the group with two left over and we split into pairs to shop. Fade came with me. He slipped his hand into mine without thinking about it; and the casual nature of the gesture made my heart sing. We stopped first to look at a basket full of brightly painted wooden squares.
“What are these?” I asked the vendor.
Delighted, he broke the thing into pieces. “It’s a puzzle box. It goes together like this.”
I watched him do it, and it seemed easy, but when I tried it, I found it impossible to assemble into a neat cube. Instead I had a jumble of components going every which way. Smiling, Fade took it from me and put it back together.
“But what does it do?”
The seller seemed puzzled. “It’s a toy. Children play with it.”
There hadn’t been any fun down below. Even the brats trained in basic knowledge necessary for survival and when they weren’t training, they performed minor maintenance and sanitary tasks that the older enclave citizens didn’t have time to handle. I remembered running all the time with few moments to myself. As a Huntress, I’d had more leisure because my job was more dangerous.
“Thanks for your time,” Fade said, replacing the box in the basket.
He knew my thoughts too well. Since we had eight bits of metal between us, we had to buy things the group needed, not a funny little box. In the end, I bought dried meat and herbs and a lightweight pot so that we could have stew as we traveled. Later, we met the others in the middle of the market, their packs bulging with whatever they’d spent their money on.
I could delay no longer.
Taking a deep breath, I hopped up onto an overturned crate. But the reaction wasn’t usual. No laughter. No derision. The silence was worse somehow, but I pushed on, until I’d finished. It was the same speech I had used in Soldier’s Pond; I wasn’t one for talking. And maybe that was why I kept failing.
Then a vendor shouted, “Call the watch! They’re disturbing the peace!”
“Did you hear what she said? Coming out of the earth from where she lived down below … she’s either a madwoman or a witch!”
I had no idea what a witch was, but I recognized fear and anger when I heard it. This wouldn’t end well for any of us. I bit out a curse. If we ended up in the stocks, the few men I had would probably leave me once they cut us free. I ran toward the gate, hoping to outpace the commotion in the market. No such luck. Armed men surrounded us, their blades similar to Morrow’s, only not as light and graceful. These were weapons made for brutality and strength; they could hack off a head or a limb with equal facility.
“What did I tell you about causing trouble?” the guard demanded.
“You were against it, as I recall,” Tegan said.
It was awful, but I wanted to laugh; she looked so small and innocent, the least likely of our group to give anyone lip, but appearances could be deceiving. In an instant, however, circumstances changed. My men drew their weapons and stepped in to protect me. They put their bodies between the guards and me. I didn’t move, didn’t protest.
I had no idea how to resolve this standoff.
Change
“Did you hear what she said, Sarge?” a guard asked.
The commander snapped back, “No, I was on duty, like you were supposed to be.”
His cheeks colored. “I only popped down to the market for a drink, and there she was, bold as brass, declaiming like a loon. She wants to steal our soldiers!”
“Steal” was a strong word. I drew my knives, calculating the odds. We could kill these men, but it would do our cause no good to be hunted by the Gaspard townsfolk. With the Freaks massing, that was a complication we didn’t need, so a peaceful resolution would be best.
“We didn’t realize there were ordinances regarding public speech,” Morrow said soothingly. “Why don’t we call it a misunderstanding? And we’ll leave at once.”
It was lowering to have him speak on my behalf, but he was better at it. Maybe he should make the recruitment speeches from now on. People thought I was crazy. But the guard shook his head, and his men stepped closer.
“We’re big on abiding the law here. You broke it. So you’ll pay the penalty.”
“For speaking in the marketplace?” I demanded, incredulous.
“Inciting a public disturbance,” the guard corrected.
That was patently absurd. It didn’t seem like a huge problem that a few people got agitated and yelled a bit. For that, I deserved to go into the stocks?
But the guard went on, “And now you’re resisting arrest. Tell your men to stand down immediately. If they don’t, that’s a hanging offense.”
Fade snarled. I knew what that sound meant. The half-feral boy slept lightly under his skin, and that ferocity kept him alive down below. I wished I could soothe him, but given his precarious emotional state, that might make things worse. Touch was a trigger, and I didn’t want Fade to go off like a flint to dry kindling.
“Bend the rules for a change,” Stalker suggested in a low tone. “Let us go. Or not. It’s your life.”
I couldn’t be sure whether it was the way the rest of the men lofted their weapons or the shine in his icy eyes. From his set jaw to his livid scars, in that moment, he looked every bit a savage, like he could slay them all himself. The Gaspard guards took a collective half step back, giving us some room.
One of them offered in a small voice, “Perhaps this once—”
“Get out,” Sarge snapped. “If you come back, I’ll see you dead if it’s the last thing I do.”
He barked an order at the men to raise the gates for us. Behind us, the citizens from the market were gathering, yelling questions and protests. We got out as fast as we could, and the gate slammed shut behind us. Instead of offering up some recruits, they’d threatened us with a hanging and booted us out of town.
Excellent.
My spirits hit an all-time low as I found us a suitable campsite. Thanks to the rocky beach and the low hillside, I did manage to find a windbreak. The others set up their bedrolls while Tully and Spence built a fire. I put a pot on it and used our fresh supplies to set soup boiling. We each had shallow wooden bowls and spoons, but so far, we’d eaten mostly foraged fruits and nuts, along with meat roasted on the spit. This reminded me unpleasantly of our journey north out of the ruins, and I missed Salvation with a sharp pang. I hadn’t loved all their rules, but it offered safety with good food and warm beds.
“This isn’t what I signed up for,” Dines said quietly.
He wasn’t much of a talker, too much sorrow and bitterness in him. Along with Hammond, Sands, and Voorhees, he’d traveled from Winterville in response to what he believed to be the colonel’s call. They had come looking for battle, and I’d wasted their time. At the moment, I felt weak, powerless, and small. The world was too big; and I was incompetent. It had been hubris, just like Mrs. James said, for me to imagine I could change anything. The gray sky overhead echoed my shame and the ocean dwarfed me. I was a dot on the sand, a whole lot of nothing. With a soft sigh, I sank down by the fire, grateful for the rock face at my back.
But the men were looking at me, expecting a bolstering word. I had made such promises before, after Appleton and Lorraine, after I wiped the rotten fruit off my face. This most recent failure bit deep, and I had no more promises. But if I didn’t do something—say the right words—I’d lose them.
“Me, either,” Hammond said, staring at me.
The Winterville men didn’t know me. They had no idea if my stories were true.
“I have a new plan,” I murmured, though currently it was to eat soup for dinner instead of meat on a stick.
They didn’t need to know that. Surely I’d figure it out.
Stalker set a hand on my arm, the first time he’d touched me since the night we left Salvation. He looked angry too, though. “I need to talk to you in private.”
“Let’s take a walk,” I said. “Thornton, you have the camp.”
That might be a stupid thing to say, given how little anybody thought of me just then. I wasn’t in charge of anything but a big mess. Yet I was trying so hard, and the girl part of me just wanted to curl up and cry. The Huntress wouldn’t let her, a fact for which I was grateful.
In silence we strolled all the way down to the water, too far for the others to hear us. The wind blew cold and salty against my skin. I shivered but I didn’t react otherwise, fixing my gaze on Stalker’s angry countenance.
“What the devil is wrong with you?” he demanded.
Of all things, I hadn’t expected him to yell at me. “I—”
“Girl, you’re not a talker. That’s why you’re failing. You can’t go around asking people to fight a war with you. Tegan and me, we’ll follow you anywhere but it’s because we’ve seen you fight. That’s how you win people to this cause.”
I started to protest the logistics—because how was I supposed to impress strangers in far-flung towns with my battle prowess—but he held up a hand to forestall my response. “Let me finish. That quarrel at the gate in Gaspard will do us more good than anything we’ve done so far. We made those guards back down. You don’t think people will talk about that? There was a fur trader in the crowd, watching. He’ll carry word.”
“I don’t see how that adds men to the group,” I muttered.
“You wouldn’t. You’ve never built anything.”
“And you have.” I wasn’t being sarcastic. He’d fought his way to the top of the pack within the Wolves, and then molded them into a gang to be feared, wiping out all opposition. So I was seriously listening to his advice.
“Enough roaming around. We pick our home ground, probably near Soldier’s Pond to make it easier to get supplies. We claim and … protect it. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s how you start something like this. It’s not so different from the gangs. I was defending buildings and streets. Out here it’s plains, beaches, and forests. So pick one.”
I thought about that and decided he was right. “Forest. There will be plenty of wood for us to build, varied terrain offering cover. Easier to defend than an open field.”