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His voice was suddenly drowned out by an ululation from the Speck woman Before her cry died out, the SpeckThey spaced their voices, like children singing a round, producing a strange echoing sound Slowly, feet shuffling, they began to circle the woman She stood, her arms uplifted like a tree’s branches, and swayed in place as she sang in a pure, sweet soprano It did not e I could hear the wind blowing and rain dripping fro The men circled her slowly, once, then twice The crowd drew closer to the cage, transfixed by the strange dance and odd song Each of the men dipped a hand into his pouch and drew forth a handful of fine dark dust They began to shake their hands over their heads as they danced round the woers to float free in the air around them The woman’s voice suddenly rose in an extended note she held for an i in close and then out in a larger circle Again, they dipped their hands into their pouches and shook the dust free in the air as they danced The woman swayed like a tree in the wind, and the crowd oohed in awe as a ghostly wind shushed through the tent in see dust over the crowd and several people sneezed, raising brief flurries of laughter from those around the after I had wearied of it, I was trapped there The crowd behind us pressed us close to the cage bars Rory especially seeripped the bars with both hands and hung on, as if he were the one imprisoned by her wildness I saw the keeper look at hi his knuckles, but the press of the mob trapped theand thedance beca round the edges of the cage, even the oldtheir dust in handfuls that drifted out over the crowd People suddenly cried out as the dust stung their eyes Coughing and sneezing, I turned my head away froathered folk, to no avail The dust I had inhaled burned in the back of my throat and left a fetid taste inat the Specks to stop, stop, and suddenly they did

Without a glance at their keeper, all of theathered silently in the middle of their enclosure Thefell out The woman stood in their midst and briefly set a hand on top of each of their heads, almost like a benediction Then they turned, and with no acknowledgment to the crowd at all, nor to the rain of coins that were showering onto the straw, they retreated to their crude shelter and huddled there, showing us only their striped backs Their heads bent together as they conferred about soan to break up, but it was some moments before we couldlike that before," Trist said He knuckled at his eyes, reddened where the dust had hit them I turned a little aside fro to clear the foul taste from my mouth I wiped my mouth withfit Aroundto the bars still "She is, well, she is sohtly ajar as he stared at the wo in the shadows of the crate

"You want her?"

We all turned, startled, at the keeper’s lascivious offer Somehow he had crept close to us Now he spoke to Rory in an undertone "I seen her looking at you, fella Fancies you, she does Now, I don’t usually do this, but-" And here he looked fro overheard "I could ’range for you to see her Alone Or h stuff She’s a beauty, and I got to keep her that way"

"What?" Rory asked blankly

"You knohat you want, fella Here’s hoorks You give me the money now, so we know you’re the one Then you coht when the crowds are less I’ll take you to her All she’ll want fro fierce She’ll probably do anything you want Anything And yer friends can watch, you want ’e," Oron said "She’s a savage"

The keeper shrugged and brushed at his striped shirt "Maybe so, fella But some men, they like a woman a bit on the wild side Give you a ride you won’t never forget Not an ounce of shame in that one, there isn’t"