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quite expected her to be carried off sometime by someone in any case. Dag was
a stretch of custom, but not a reversal. The questions this begged for Dag s
own homecoming niggled hard, the more so since Fawn could not anticipate most
of them.
And here came Rush again, walking back up the lane. He spied Dag on the porch
and angled toward him between the house and the old barn, a grassy area the
sheep were sometimes turned out to crop. What the sheep refused to eat was
scythed once a year to keep the space from turning back to woods and blocking
the view. Rush, Dag realized as he approached, was tense, and Dag considered
opening his groundsense wider, unpleasant as it was likely to prove.
 Hey, patroller, said Rush.  Fawn wants you. Down by the road at the end of
the lane.
Dag blinked once, slowly, to cover the fact that he d just snapped open his
groundsense to its full range. Fawn, he determined first, was not down by the
end of the lane, but nearly out of his perceptions to the west, up over the
ridge. Not alone with Reed? she seemed not to be in any special distress,
however. So why was Rush lying? Ah. The woods below were not unpeopled.
Concealed among the trees near the road were the smudges of four horses,
standing still tied? Four persons accompanied them. Three blurred grounds he
did not know, but the fourth he recognized as Stupid Sunny. Was it so wild a
guess to think that the other three were also husky young farm boys? Dag
thought not.
 Did she say why? Dag asked, to buy a moment more to think.
Rush took a couple of breaths to invent an answer, apparently having expected
Dag to leap up without delay.  Some wedding thing or other, he replied.  She
didn t say, but she wants you right now.
Dag scratched his temple gently with his hook, glad that he had mostly stuck
to the deeply ingrained habit of not discussing Lakewalker abilities with
anyone here, Fawn and Nattie excepted. He was now one move ahead in this game;
he tried to figure how not to squander that advantage, because he suspected it
was the only one he had. It would be amusing to just sit here and watch Rush
dig himself deeper concocting more desperate reasons for Dag to walk down the
hill into what was shaping up to be a neat little ambush. But that would leave
the whole pack of them running around loose all night to evolve other plans.
As little as Dag wanted to deal with this tonight, still less did he want to
deal with it in the morning. And most especially did he not want it to impinge
on Spark in any way. His brotherly enemies, it seemed, were looking after that
angle for him just now. So.
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He let his groundsense play lightly over the lower woods, which he had
crossed several times on foot in the past days, looking for& yes. Just exactly
that. A flush, not of excitement, but of that very peculiar calm that came
over him when facing a bandit camp or a malice lair jerked his mind up to
another level. Targets, eh. He knew what to do with targets. But would targets
know what to do with him? His lips drew back. If not, he would teach them.
 Um& Dag? said Rush uncertainly.
He wasn t wearing his war knife. That was fine; he had no hand to wield it.
He stood up and shook out his left arm.  Sure, Rush. Where did you say,
again?
 Down by the road, said Rush, both relieved and the reverse. Absent gods,
but the boy was a poor liar. On the whole, that was a point in his favor.
 You coming with me, Rush?
 In a minute. You go along. I have to get something in the house.
 All right, said Dag amiably, and trod off down the hill to the lane. He
descended it for a few hundred paces, then cut over to the wooded hillside,
plotting his routes. He needed to surprise his ambushers on the correct side
for his purpose. He wondered how fast they could run. His legs were long;
theirs were young. Best not to cut it too close.
Mari would beat me for trying this fool stunt. It was an oddly comforting
thought. Familiar.
Dag ghosted down the hill at an angle until he was about fifteen feet behind
the four young men hiding in the shadows of the trees and keeping watch on the
lane.Looks like Sunny took my advice . It was still early twilight; Dag s
groundsense would give him considerable advantage in the dark, but he wanted
his quarry to be able to see him.  Evening, boys, he said.  Looking for me?
They jumped and whirled. Sunny s gold head was bright even in the shadows.
The others were more nondescript: one stout, one as muscular as Sunny, and one
skinny; young enough to be foolish and big enough to be dangerous. It was an
unpleasant combination. Three were armed with cudgels, for which Dag had a new
respect. Sunny had both a stick and a big hunting knife, the latter still in
the sheath at his belt. For now.
Sunny got his breath back and growled,  Hello, patroller. Let me tell you how
it s going to be.
Dag tilted his head as if in curiosity.
 You re not wanted here. In a few minutes Rush is going to bring down your
horse and your gear, and you re going to get on and ride north. And you don t
come back.
 Amazing! Dag marveled.  How do you figure you re going to make that happen,
son?
 If you don t, you get the beating of your life. And we ll tie you on your
horse and you ll still ride north. Only without your teeth. Sunny s grin
showed white in the shadows, to emphasize this threat. His friends shifted, a
little too tense and worried to quite share the amusement, although one tried
a huffy sort of laugh to show support.
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 Not to find fault, but I see a few problems with your plan. First would be a
notable absence of horse. I  spect Rush is going to have a trifle of
difficulty handling Copperhead. Dag let his groundsense spread briefly as far
as the old barn. Rush s troubles were indeed beginning. He decided he did not
have the attention to spare on managing his horse at this distance, and
withdrew the link. The entire family had been told, at the dinner table in
front of Sorrel and Tril, to leave Copperhead alone unless Dag was there. Rush
was on his own. Dag tried not to smile too much.
 Patroller,Fawn can handle your horse.
 Indeed she can. But, you know, you sent Rush. Unfortunate, that.
 Then you can start walking. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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