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Thearound and see" I turned and saw Rooba co you showed up," said the Goat Man when she arrived "Girl&039;s got her eye on your goat"

"Not if she&039;s spoken for," I said carelessly

Rooba looked oat "She&039;s not Look at that shoulder Bet you half the carcass will be too rotten for even sausage"

"What?" said the Goat Man "We had a deal"

"We had a deal on an aniirl if she&039;s stupid enough to take her," said Rooba As she ht her wink

The Goat Man was oal off his hands It took us half an hour to agree on the price Quite a crowd had gathered by then to hand out opinions It was an excellent deal if the goat lived; I&039;d been robbed if she died People took sides in the arguoat

Gale offered to carry her I think he wanted to see the look on Priiddiness, I bought a pink ribbon and tied it around her neck Then we hurried back to my house

You should have seen Prioat Reirl ept to save that awful old cat, Buttercup She was so excited she started crying and laughing all at once Mythe injury, but the pair of the bren the animal&039;s throat

"They sound like you," says Peeta I had alotten he was there

"Oh, no, Peeta They workcouldn&039;t have died if it tried," I say But then I bitewhat that , in my incompetent hands

"Don&039;t worry I&039;," he jokes "Finish the story"

"Well, that&039;s it Only I re with Lady on a blanket next to the fire And just before they drifted off, the goat licked her cheek, like it was giving her a good night kiss or so," I say "It was alreadythe pink ribbon?" he asks

"I think so," I say "Why?"

"I&039;htfully "I can see why that day oat would be a little goldto that, not the lasting joy you gave the sister you love so ," says Peeta drily

"The goat has paid for itself Several times over," I say in a superior tone

"Well, it wouldn&039;t dare do anything else after you saved its life," says Peeta "I intend to do the saain?" I ask

"A lot of trouble Don&039;t worry You&039;ll get it all back," he says

"You&039;re not oing nowhere but up "You&039;re a little cooler though"

The sound of the trumpets startles me I&039;m onto miss a syllable It&039;s my new best friend, Claudius Te us to a feast Well, we&039;re not that hungry and I actually wave his offer away in indifference when he says, "Now hold on So my invitation But this is no ordinary feast Each of you needs so desperately So

"Each of you will find that so in a backpack, marked with your district nu to show up For some of you, this will be your last chance," says Claudius

There&039;s nothing else, just his words hanging in the air I jurips my shoulder fro your life for me"

"Who said I was?" I say

"So, you&039;re not going?" he asks

"Of course, I&039; Give ht into soainst Cato and Clove and Thresh? Don&039;t be stupid," I say, helping hiht it out, we&039;ll see who&039;s in the sky toht and work out a plan from there"

"You&039;re such a bad liar, Katniss I don&039;t kno you&039;ve survived this long" He begins to old h Of course, I&039;amble at cards You&039;ll lose your last coin," he says

Anger flushes , and you can&039;t stop me!"

"I can follow you At least partway Iyour name, I bet someone can find me And then I&039;ll be dead for sure," he says

"You won&039;t get a hundred yards fro , too"

He&039;s just stubborn enough andafter me in the woods Even if a tribute doesn&039;t find hiht He can&039;t defend himself I&039;d probably have to wall hio myself And who knohat the exertion will do to him?

"What am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you die?" I say He must know that&039;s not an option That the audience would hate me And frankly, I would hate myself, too, if I didn&039;t even try

"I won&039;t die I proo," he says

We&039;re at soue him out of this one, so I don&039;t try I pretend, reluctantly, to go along "Then you have to do what I say Drink your water, wake me when I tell you, and eat every bite of the soup no reed Is it ready?" he asks

"Wait here," I say The air&039;s gone cold even though the sun&039;s still up I&039; with the te soood blanket The soup is still nice and warm in its iron pot And actually doesn&039;t taste too bad

Peeta eats without co out the pot to show his enthusiasm He raing if you don&039;t knohat fever does to people He&039;s like listening to Hayive hioes off his head coo down to the strea to die if I don&039;t get to that feast I&039;ll keep hi for a day or two, and then the infection will reach his heart or his brain or his lungs and he&039;ll be gone And I&039;ll be here all alone Again Waiting for the others

I&039;ht that I alht byoff the silver fabric to retrieve the vial Hayotten the medicine - I don&039;t kno, persuaded sole of romantic fools to sell their jewels - and I can save Peeta! It&039;s such a tiny vial though Itto cure soh me I uncork the vial and take a deep sniff My spirits fall at the sickly sweet scent Just to be sure, I place a drop on the tip of ue There&039;s no question, it&039;s sleep syrup It&039;s a cooes, but very addictive Almost everyone&039;s had a dose at one tiives it to hysterical patients to knock them out to stitch up a bad wound or quiet their ht It only takes a little A vial this size could knock Peeta out for a full day, but what good is that? I&039;m so furious I&039; into the stream when it hits me A full day? That&039;s more than I need

I mash up a handful of berries so the taste won&039;t be as noticeable and add soood ht you a treat I found a new patch of berries a little farther downstream"

Peeta opens his mouth for the first bite without hesitation He ss then frowns slightly "They&039;re very sweet"

"Yes, they&039;re sugar berries My mother makes jam fro the next spoonful in his mouth

"No," he says, alar berries?"

"Well, you can&039;t get theroild," I say Another o

"They&039;re sweet as syrup," he says, taking the last spoonful "Syrup" His eyes widen as he realizes the truth I cla him to s instead of spit He tries to make himself vomit the stuff up, but it&039;s too late, he&039;s already losing consciousness Even as he fades away, I can see in his eyes what I&039;ve done is unforgivable

I sit back on my heels and look at him with a mixture of sadness and satisfaction A stray berry stains his chin and I wipe it away "Who can&039;t lie, Peeta?" I say, even though he can&039;t hear me

It doesn&039;t matter The rest of Panem can