Page 4 (2/2)
Bast clai Then, careful
not to touch the shims, he took the
greenish stone between two fingers and
arched an eyebrow at the boy
After a moment’s hesitation, the boy
nodded
Bast put the stone in his pocket
“What if I get a birching anyway?”
Brann asked
Bast shrugged “That’s your business
You wanted a lie I gave you a good one
If you want et you out of trouble,
that’s so else entirely”
The baker’s boy looked disappointed,
but he nodded and headed down the hill
Next up the hill was a slightly older
boy in tattered homespun One of the
Alard boys, Kale He had a split lip and
a crust of blood around one nostril He
was as furious as only a boy of ten can
be His expression was a thunderstorm
“I caughtGretta
behind the old mill!” he said as soon as
he crested the hill, not waiting for Bast to
ask “He kneeet on her!”
Bast spread his hands helplessly,
shrugging
“Revenge,” the boy spat
“Public revenge?” Bast asked “Or
secret revenge?”
The boy touched his split lip with his
tongue “Secret revenge,” he said in a
low voice
“How e?” Bast asked
The boy thought for a bit, then held up
his hands about two feet apart “This
much”
“Hmmmm,” Bast said “How much on a
scale from mouse to bull?
The boy rubbed his nose for a while
“About a cat’s worth,” he said “Maybe a
dog’s worth Not like Crazy Martin’s dog
though Like the Bentons’ dogs”
Bast nodded and tilted his head back in
a thoughtful way “Okay,” he said “Piss
in his shoes”
The boy looked skeptical “That don’t
sound like a whole dog’s worth of
revenge”
Bast shook his head “You piss in a cup
and hide it Let it sit for a day or two
Then one night when he’s put his shoes
by the fire, pour the piss on his shoes
Don’t et them damp
In thethey’ll be dry and
probably won’t even smell too much …”
“What’s the point?” the boy interrupted
angrily “That’s not a flea’s worth of
revenge!”
Bast held up a pacifying hand “When
his feet get sweaty, he’ll start to smell
like piss” Bast said calmly “If he steps
in a puddle, he’ll smell like piss When
he walks in the snow, he’ll smell like
piss It will be hard for hiure out
exactly where it’s co from, but
everyone will know your brother is the
one that reeks” Bast grinned at the boy
“I’ to
want to kiss the boy who can’t stop
pissing himself”
Raw admiration spread across the
young boy’s face like sunrise in the
mountains “That’s the most bastardly
thing I’ve ever heard,” he said,
awestruck
Bast tried to look modest and failed
“Have you got anything for me?”
“I found a wild beehive,” the boy said
“That will do for a start,” Bast said
“Where?”
“It’s off past the Orissons’ Past
Littlecreek” The boy squatted and drew
a map in the dirt “You see?”
Bast nodded “Anything else?”
“Well … I knohere Crazy Martin
keeps his still …”
Bast raised his eyebrows at that
“Really?”
The boy drew another ave
some directions Then he stood and
dusted off his knees “We square?”
Bast scuffed his foot in the dirt,
destroying the map “We’re square”
The boy dusted off his knees, “I’ve got
a e too Rike wants to see you”
Bast shook his head firmly “He knows
the rules Tell him no”
“I already told him,” the boy said with
a co “But I’ll
tell hiain if I see him …”
There were no
after Kale, so Bast tucked the leather
book under his ar,
ra stroll He found some wild
raspberries and ate them He took a drink
from the Ostlar’s well
Eventually Bast climbed to the top of a
nearby bluff where he gave a great
stretch before tucking the leather-bound
copy of Celu
hawthorn tree where a wide branch made
a cozy nook against the trunk
He looked up at the sky then, clear and
bright No clouds Not much wind Warm
but not hot Hadn’t rained for a solid
span It wasn’t a market day Hours
before noon on Felling …
Bast’s brow furrowed a bit, as if
perfor some complex calculation
Then he nodded to himself
Then Bast headed back down the bluff,
past Old Lant’s place and around the
brambles that bordered the Alard farm
When he came to Littlecreek he cut some
reeds and idly whittled at them with a
sht the
string out of h
is pocket and bound them
together, fashioning a tidy set of
shepherd’s pipes
He blew across the top of them and
cocked his head to listen to their sweet
discord His bright knife trimmed some
ain This time the
tune was closer, which made the discord
far
Bast’s knife flicked again, once, twice,
thrice Then he put it away and brought
the pipes closer to his face He breathed
in through his nose, s the wet
green of them Then he licked the fresh-
cut tops of the reeds, the flicker of his
tongue a sudden, startling red
Then he drew a breath and blew against
the pipes This tiht
asfish,
sweet as stolen fruit S, Bast
headed off into the Bentons’ back hills,
and it wasn’t long before he heard the
low, mindless bleat of distant sheep
A minute later, Bast came over the crest
of a hill and sao dozen fat, daft
sheep cropping grass in the green valley
below It was shadowy here, and
secluded The lack of recent rain meant
the grazing was better here The steep
sides of the valley meant the sheep
weren’t prone to straying and didn’t need
after
A young woman sat in the shade of a
spreading elm that overlooked the valley
She had taken off her shoes and bonnet
Her long, thick hair was the color of ripe
wheat
Bast began playing then A dangerous
tune It eet and bright and slow
and sly
The shepherdess perked up at the sound
of it, or so it seemed at first She lifted
her head, excited … but no She didn’t
look in his direction at all She was
to her feet to have a
stretch, rising high up onto her toes,
hands twining over her head
Still apparently unaware she was being
serenaded, the young woman picked up a
nearby blanket, spread it beneath the tree,
and sat back down It was a little odd, as
she’d been sitting there before without
the blanket Perhaps she’d just grown
chilly
Bast continued to play as he walked
down the slope of the valley toward her
He did not hurry, and the music he made
eet and playful and languorous all
at once
The shepherdess showed no sign of
noticing the music or Bast himself In fact
she looked away from him, toward the
far end of the little valley, as if curious
what the sheepthere
When she turned her head, it exposed the