Page 23 (1/2)

Chapter 23

"Move it,them all fro for a few ht and, hopefully, out of save the order to halt "Stop you Sit you Slow your hearts"

Wordlessly, the re or sat with Temp, his back to the others He pawed up Teers, and entwined theood She would never have had the chance to et back to his mom's ar ever again

He did not want to look at the rest of the questers Every one of them would have watched Boots and the crawlers fall into the river to stop the rats He had nothing to say to them

And then there was Tick Brave little Tick, who had flown into the face of an army of rats to save his baby sister Tick -- who never spoke much Tick -- who shared her food Tick -- as after all just a roach Just a roach who had given all the time she had left so that Boots could have ainst his lips and felt scalding tears begin to slide down his cheeks He hadn't cried, not the whole time he'd been down here, and there had been plenty of bad stuff But somehow Tick's sacrifice had crushed whatever thin shell reiance to the roaches that he kneould never fade He would never again take a roach's life Not here and not -- if by some miracle they made it hoan to shake Probably the others thought he was ridiculous, crying over a roach, but he didn't care He hated them He hated them all

Temp, whose antennas had drooped down over his head, reached out and touched Gregor with a feeler "Thank you To hen Tick has lost time"

"Boots would weep, too, if she weren't" Gregor couldn't go on as another wave of sobs swept over hilad Boots hadn't witnessed Tick's death She would have been upset and she wouldn't have understood it He didn't really understand it, either

Gregor felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked away He kneas Luxa, but he didn't want to talk to her "Gregor," she whispered sadly "Gregor, know you ould have caught Boots and Teht Tick, too, had there been any reason"

He pressed his hand against his eyes to stop his tears, and nodded Well, at least that was a little better Of course Luxa would have dived after Boots if she'd fallen The Underlanders didn't worry about falling the way he did, not with their bats

"It's okay," he said "I know" When Luxa sat beside hiuess you think it's pretty stupid,over a roach"

"You do not yet know the Underlanders if you think we lack tears," said Luxa "We weep We weep, and not just for ourselves"

"Not for Tick, though," said Gregor with a trace of bitterness

"I have not wept since the death of ht to be unnatural in this respect"

Gregor felt ht of how badly you had to be hurt to lose the ability to cry He forgave Luxa everything at that ive her

"Gregor," she said softly when his tears had stopped "If you return to Regalia, and I do not tell Vikus that I understood"

"Understood what?" asked Gregor

"Why he left us with Ripred," said Luxa "We had to have a gnawer I see noas trying to protect us"