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I leave her settlin into her task with good cheer Peg keeps her conarled root toes by the stove an puffin on a long clay pipe Tracker’s mad keen to come with us, but he’s the best patrol fer the Lanes while we’re all away Sliins to gather, h an Tommo prepare to ride fer Edenhome

I’m convinced now that Creed’s to blary at e Wanted to shake everybody’s confidence in me jest that bit uard duty an the Tonton got that close to us we could of all bin dead She ain’t no leader I am

It all makes sense It all fits But I’ll test Tommo Jest once, jest a little So I can say I did if Sli an see what happens Action Reaction

I pretend I’ve mislaid my cord I ask Tommo to borrow his He hands it over with a smile The very coil that a piece was cut froht away To dark eyes always tell all As he hands me the cord, they tell ot nuthin to hide Toue froht Lanes when a ca cracks the dusktide It’s Nero He’s a inged blackness, coastin doards ot I sent hiht I bin frettin an thinkin about who ht to hts an all, an I’m so used to hiht outta es

He surfs in to land on my shoulder an I hustle hi I shove it in my shirt without lookin No need Jack’s returned the roll I sent hi That means he’ll be there At Edenhoh an Toether With me At Edenhome No way, no no no They ht I was too tired I must still be No sleep ht now an send the boys back if it wouldn’t make ’em suspicious an cause ructions What to do, what to do, what the hell aonna do?

Brazen it out That’s what Or, as Jack would say, I hafta wing it

Es of their passing would fade and she’d lose the after them She didn’t have a plan, not yet But she would

So far, she’d been nothing but a trouble and a let down A child when they needed a warrior More than anything, she wanted to be worthy of being Saba’s sister She needed to honour the sacrifices of Pa and Maev and Epona And Ike and Brarandfather, Namid the Stardancer, was a warrior and a shaman That’s what she wanted to be

Warriors proved the to prove She’d been working with her bow till she couldn’t lift her arround her feet, she was on her way to beco eapons any, then planning, then taking action There had to be so she could do that nobody else could That would allow her to stand tall a were cosy sitting next to the stove, with the stack of shooters to be oiled and all else Saba asked her to do Enough work to keep the, a song to sing us along

She wound the key of the e They watched and listened as the tiny finch sang Then she told Peg she couldn’t keep the cage With a shrug, Peg gave her back what Tommo had traded for it He’d be hurt, but not surprised They’d argued back and forth since the night of her party He knehat she thought and she was right He couldn’t give away so so precious He’d thank her for it one day

She started yawning Not too ht little bird The old gal was yawning herself With any luck, she’d doze off She surprised her with a goodnight hug

She went to the boys’ sleepshed and left Tos where he’d be sure to find it He’d kept it hidden away for too long, like his ht, in tiirls’ shed She’d eh and To would check on her, but still In the shadows, the blanket over her pack would pass for a girl curled up asleep She’d packed the pockets of her coat with the necessaries, nothing izmo knife, her birthday corabbed it and ran to the stables