Book 1 - Page 12 (2/2)

“You’ll be better off if he doesn’t. He got his name because he likes cutting parts off people.”

I smiled, though I’d heard the joke before. Bonesaw had gotten his name like the rest of us, from the talisman his blood found in the pile of naming day gifts. But it only seemed right he apprentice to the medicine man; Whitewall was a big believer in signs. Now, three years later, the old medicine man was gone, and we had only Bonesaw to care for our sick and wounded. Most agreed he wasn’t very good at it.

“Maybe you’re right.” I rotated my shoulder, and I didn’t feel any of the tightness or heat that accompanied an infection.

“I am. Let me give you my tin of Banner’s salve. Then she can give me what she makes for you.” Kindness, I wondered, or an excuse for him to go see her sooner? As I was debating, he added, “I’ll get it while you make that club s.h.i.+ne. Then we can go eat. Sound good?”

It did, actually. Stone was busy with the brats, and Thimble was mad at me. I didn’t look forward to eating alone. I agreed with a nod and Fade loped off.

Oiling a rag, I polished my weapon until it shone. I even dug all the dried blood out of the carvings Stone had made. He might not understand my job, but he cared. I had to give him that. n.o.body else had anything so fine.

Someone stopped behind me.

“Back already?” I asked without turning.

“I never left,” came Banner’s puzzled voice.

Oops. I spun to face her. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

She grinned. “Someone like Fade?”

I couldn’t help but smile; she had that kind of open, friendly face. “Kind of.”

“He likes you,” she said. “He was just telling me about you.”

“Really?” I couldn’t help but feel flattered by that.

“Yeah. He’s a little hard to get to know, but worth it. He tells the most fascinating stories.” By her indulgent expression, she thought he merely had a good imagination.

Based on my experiences with him so far, I suspected he’d seen and done more than anyone in the enclave would believe. I stifled a sigh. We weren’t always inclined to credit the truth around here, if it ran counter to our experience.

“I like working with him.” Any other response would be inappropriate, and could be repeated to my detriment. Hunters were supposed to trust and respect their partners, nothing more.

Thimble caught my eye then, radiating angry hurt. She saw me talking to Banner and her brows drew down. Oh, surely she didn’t think I was telling her about the trip to Na.s.sau. I’d just met the girl.

Before I could try to make amends, Fade jogged back into the workshop. He cut a straight line toward us. He greeted her with a smile and me with the words, “You ready?”

I nodded and waved to Banner. Thimble pointedly didn’t look at me. Weapons in hand, I followed him out of the workshop.

“I just need to drop these off. Meet you in the kitchen?”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll see what there is to eat.”

“Let me guess. Meat and mushrooms.”

“Might be fish.”

Yeah, they did cook fish every now and then to keep us from getting sick. The elders put a lot of thought into what we ate and how much. Without their careful planning, our enclave would’ve died out long ago. It was a sobering thought. Just yesterday, I’d seen the consequences of careless behavior—and they didn’t believe us.

Whitewall, Copper, and Silk seemed to think such things could never happen here. We were too smart or too lucky. I’d bet the Na.s.sau citizens thought that too, up until everything went wrong.

Treasure

A week later, the team they’d sent returned, weighed down with relics of the old world. I eyed the bags with dismay. I hadn’t been on duty when the team went out, but I didn’t think they’d taken enough supplies to trade with the Burrowers to merit such a big haul.

They wouldn’t. Though my faith had been shaken, I didn’t want to follow the thought to its natural conclusion. I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

Fade and I had just come off patrol. I’d cared for my weapons and cleaned up a bit, but I hadn’t yet gone to see who was in the common room. Instead, I went looking for my partner.

He was in his room, so I swished the curtain to let him know he had a visitor. A few seconds later, he poked his head out. Surprise lit his features.

“Something up?”

“I’m not sure.” I summarized what I’d seen, but no more. I wanted to know if he’d share my instincts without undue influence.

“They took everything by force.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Jengu had saved our lives. Whatever happened to them, it was our fault. I should’ve realized—the first Hunter tenet, “the strong survive,” dictated their actions; they took everything because they could. But it wasn’t right, and they’d made liars of us.

“What are we going to do?”

“What can we do?”

It was an unanswerable question. “Should we go see the Wordkeeper?”

“Isn’t he the one who made Silk send a team?”

Right. I’d always thought once I became a Huntress, I’d have some power, influence over the way things were done. In truth, precious few had any. Even Silk followed orders; hers just came from Whitewall and the Wordkeeper. It would be years before I qualified as an elder, and even then, there was no guarantee.

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