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Silvertongue looked at him with such obvious admiration that Farid blushed ‘What an extraordinary fellow you are! Perhaps I should ask you how I’e?’

Farid smiled aardly and looked at his toes Ask him? No one had ever asked him for his ideas before He had always been the scout, the tracker dog Others had e You didn’t ask the dog’s opinion You beat the dog if he didn’t obey ‘There are only two of us, and there are at least twenty of theue looked over at their camp site and the wo Elinor? You should! She’s much fiercer than I ary’

Farid had to sainst twenty’

‘Yes, I know, that doesn’t sound good’ Silvertongue stood up, sighing ‘Come on, let’s tell Elinor what you’ve found out,’ he said, but Farid stayed where he was in the grass He picked up one of the dry branches lying everywhere First-class firewood There was any aone a long, long way for wood like this They’d have given good er over the rough bark, and looked at Capricorn’s village

‘We could get fire to help us,’ he said

Silvertongue looked at him blankly ‘What do you mean?’

Farid picked up another stick, and another He heaped theer showed me how to tame fire It’s like Gwin: it bites if you don’t kno to handle it, but if you treat it properly it does as you want That’s what Dustfinger taught ht place …’

Silvertongue bent down, picked up one of the branches and weighted it in his hand ‘And how are you going to control it once you’ve got a fire going? It hasn’t rained for ages The hills will be ablaze before you know it’

Farid shrugged ‘Only if the wind blows the wrong way’

But Silvertongue shook his head ‘No,’ he said firmly ‘I won’t play with fire in these hills unless I can’t think of anything else Let’s steal into the village tonight Maybe we can get past the guards Maybe they know each other so little they’ll think I’h their fingers once, so ain’

‘That’s a lot of ue ‘I know’

45

Telling Lies to Basta

‘If ye see the laird, tell him what ye hear; tell him this makes the twelve hunner and nineteen time that Jennet Clouston has called down the curse on hiuest and master, wife, miss, or bairn – black, black be their fall’