The Children of the Sky

By now, everyone but Ravna had plenty of practice with the scutwork. Despite the rain, they soon had the fodder set out for the kherhogs. Screwfloss started a campfire and they sat down to eat.

“Even cooked, this stuff still tastes like crap,” said Jefri.

“The salted meat is worse,” said Amdi.

“Ah,” said Ravna. “Then the good news is that we’re almost out of food.”

Screwfloss did not add to the chitchat, but he was chewing unenthusiastically. Being crippled and only four, maybe he wasn’t up for normal Tinish hunting. She noticed that he kept a speculative eye on one of the kherhogs, the nearly lame animal they’d been keeping behind Amdi’s wagon. Screwfloss and Jefri had worked on the kherhog’s front paw, removing a jammed rock. The creature might do some work tomorrow, but it was smart enough to realize that the implicit contract with its meat-eating masters was in jeopardy. Now, it uneasily returned Screwfloss’ gaze.

“Well, I figure we’re at the midpoint of the cut across,” said Amdi.

Ravna remembered what they had seen on the maps, in the valley that lay ahead. There had been scattered settlements. “We’ll find some place we can stop and trade for food.”

Amdi said, “The Tines we’ll meet down there, very likely they’ve never seen humans before.”

Ravna looked from Amdi to Jef. “You think they might attack us out of hand, the way Steel’s troops killed your parents?”

Jefri looked around thoughtfully, then shook his head. “Steel was Old Flenser’s madpack, conditioned for over-the-top treachery.”

“It won’t be like Steel,” said Amdi. “There are still a lot of unpleasant possibilities. I’m sure that people in the Principates have heard of humans, but—”

“Okay,” said Ravna. “Maybe Jefri and I could stay out of sight at first. You and Screwfloss could pose as lone travellers. If we have to, we could trade them our lamps, maybe other things. We can get past the initial encounter, guys. The question is, what then? We have to get home fast, and without anyone noticing—until we want to be noticed.”

Jefri hunched forward, his hands making a thatchy mess of his hair. Abruptly he sat back. “I’ll bet we’d be rescued by now if Jo and Pilgrim were still around. Nevil must have acted against more than just you, Ravna. We may end up having to rescue everyone else.”

“I can do it, Jefri,” said Ravna. “Just get me to Oobii.”

He gave her a strange look. “You can take control so easily? And yet you let Nevil just push you aside?”

Ravna felt her face warm. “You think I was a fool for that?”

Jef looked away. She couldn’t tell if he was angry, or contemptuous—but when he continued, his voice was mild: “Counting Nevil, we have three enemies looking for us. We have evidence that none of them is above betraying the others, but we don’t know exactly what each wants. Maybe Tycoon really wants us for some kind of zoo. Vendacious’ goon was mainly interested in quietly killing us—you, anyway—while pretending to take us to Tycoon. I think Nevil just wants you out of the way. With you gone, he’ll have Oobii all to himself.” He looked back at her. “In any case, by now all three factions must know that we’ve slipped loose. If we try to signal for help, one of them will get us. We have no place to hide out. The best we can do is what you’re saying: get over these hills, hike home through the Wild Principates, and … and then get you to Oobii.”

Amdi made a whining noise, not objecting, just very unhappy. “And I’ll be the one who has to do all the talking, to strangers!”

Jefri: “You know Screwfloss may recover some of his Interpack speech, Amdi.”

“Maybe,” said Amdi, hope creeping into his voice. “He was always—”

“Where is Screwfloss, anyway?” Ravna said. Somewhere during the conversation, the remnant had wandered off.

Jefri gave a disappointed sigh, belying his optimistic comment of the moment before. “He got bored, I suppose. I’m not sure how much he understands about strategy. Hopefully, he’s settling in for sentry duty.”

That reminded Ravna of what she had noticed earlier in the day. She described the remnant’s smudged pelt coloring. “So what is he hiding? How many layers of secrets are there?”

Amdi gave a tentative laugh. “Oh, that Screwfloss. Being murdered has hurt his self-image. His grooming has gotten so careless…” His voice dribbled off. Some of his heads tilted as he exchanged a look with Jefri. They were deciding whether to clue her in.

Finally Jefri said, “It’s your story to tell, Amdi.”

The pack gestured them nearer, until she was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Jefri, and two of Amdi were leaning onto their laps. This had worked more comfortably when Amdi had been little. “It’s two secrets really. Please don’t blame me, Ravna, but … I’ve been ’prenticing with Flenser since, well, for a long time.”

The one by her lap twisted its neck to look up at her. Its eyes were big and dark. “It wasn’t a Nevilish thing. We weren’t betraying anyone, though you and especially Woodcarver might not see it that way.”

“Yeah, don’t ride Amdi about this, Ravna. We all have our issues.”

Ravna nodded, suppressing a smile. “Amdi, I know a little about what Flenser was up to. He promised you some kind of medical help, right?”

Amdi emitted a squeak and all his heads came up. “How did you know that?”

“Later,” said Ravna. “It’s about the only secret I knew, and I didn’t believe it at the time.”

“Okay, but you’re right.” Amdi’s heads dipped. “I know my problem is cowardice. You humans are brave; you lived with death for so long. Like you, I was born all together and I am so … afraid of dying.”

Ravna petted the one that leaned onto her lap. “I don’t think it’s cowardly.” She wondered just what Flenser had promised Amdi. “But you were going to tell me about Screwfloss,” she said.

“Oh, yes. About his disguise!” Some of the perkiness came back to Amdi’s delivery. “Helping with Screwfloss was a more successful project. I’m proud of what I did, even if Woodcarver might call it treason. I knew Flenser- Tyrathect is mainly good.”

Jefri gave the one on his lap a light tap. “Are you deliberately tantalizing Ravna? Get to the point!”

“No, no! I’m circling in on the truth.” He huddled in even closer, took a sweeping look at the darkness. The rain had started up again, but it was gentle in the windless night. “It’s not a figure of speech to say that Flenser- Tyrathect is mainly good. Three of him is from the schoolteacher he murdered. She’s running the show, even though the pack doesn’t consciously interpret events that way.”

“I know,” said Ravna. “Flenser even jokes about it, but in a sly way that implies it’s all a lie.”

“Well, it’s not a lie.” This was asserted with un-Amdian truculence. “The one with the white-tipped ears is the critical connector, but all three contribute.”

“I knew that, too,” said Ravna.

Mischief crept into Amdi’s voice: “I’ll bet you didn’t know that all three have had puppies within the pack.”

“What?” Even her broken surveillance system should have noticed that. Unless, “Was this when Flenser went missing up north?”

“Yup.”

That had been five years ago. Woodcarver had pitched a fit, coming close to making war on what was left of the Flenserist movement. “So Flenser-Tyrathect was trying to recruit from within himself for when the Tyrathect members die?”

“Yes, but that part of it didn’t work out. Flenser had all sorts of broodkennerish explanations, but it came down to the fact that what was left of the Old Flenser was capable of rejecting the puppies … So, he gave one to Wretchly and I helped him place the other two.”

Ravna looked out into the rainy dark. If this story was going somewhere, she could guess what became of the other two puppies. “Then who is the rest of Screwfloss, Amdi?”

“Jefri and me, we smuggled the two puppies into the veterans’ Fragmentarium—where the remains of Steel were being held prisoner.”

“Ah. I suppose that was right before Steel’s ‘suicide.’”

“Yes,” said Amdi. “Somehow, Flenser persuaded Carenfret to fool everyone, Woodcarver included.”

“Yeah,” said Jefri, “I’ve always wondered what Flenser had on Carenfret.”