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Sohed near ils

As slowly as possible, I inched one eye open The cool spring day had beco rain Too bad I could’ve used a bath

One of Conner’s vigils was at the far end of the wagon, looking at the view behind us That probably il were on the seat at the front of the wagon

Another cough, to on to see where it had come from

Two boys sat there The shorter one closest to e The coughing boy looked sickly and pale, while the other was larger and tanned They each had light brown hair, though the coughing boy’s hair was nearer to blond He had rounder features as well I suspected wherever he came from, he’d spent more time sick in bed than at work And just the opposite for the other boy

I judgedabout ht, one of many ways I disappointed my father, who had felt that it would hinderplaces) My hair was badly in need of cutting, tangled, and dark blond but getting lighter with each passing ain, worked in ain and I opened both eyes to deter his throat to get our attention

Only he caughtat him Our eyes focused so solidly on each other that it was pointless to pretend I was still asleep, at least to hiive up my secret? I hoped not I needed time to think, and time for some unfortunately placed bruises to heal

Time was not on er boy, who got the attention of Conner’s backseat vigil

The vigil crawled across the wagon to slap my cheek, which wasn’t necessary because my eyes were mostly open I swore at hi position

"Not too rough," Conner called froil non as Cregan glared atthe phrase I’d just used to curse at him had satisfactorily explained my wishes for the cause of his death

"You’ve an," Conner said, then added, "Mott is our driver"

Mott glanced back to nod a hello at ned to look more different from each other Mott was tall, dark-skinned, and nearly bald What little hair he did have was black and shaved to his scalp He was the one by the tavern who’d tripped an was short -- not much taller than I was, and shorter than the tanned boy near ly pale for a man who likely spent much of his day outdoors, and he had a thick crop of blond hair that he tied back at the nape of his neck Mott was lean and an looked softer than I knew hie

How strange that there could be two people so different from each other and yet my dislike for them was equally fierce

Conner on with me "That’s Lataher Roden had ratted ed, as if to say he had no more of an idea ere here than I did

"I’ roast for dinner, so whatever you’ve got had better be good"

Conner laughed and tossed an apple onto my lap, which sat there because my hands were still tied behind me

Roden reached over, snatched the apple, and took a big bite of it "One of the rewards for not having fought co I’m not tied up like a prisoner"

"That wasto take it," Conner said

There was silence for anotherI stared icily at hie as I did, he knew the rules of survival Rule number one said you took food whenever it was available, as ht Conner?" I asked Latahed He probably didn’t have the strength to fight Roden leaned forward and wrapped his are you came from It was ten times the place I lived in Then Conner co reward So no, I didn’t fight"