'Yesterday, and this morning, he was like a different boy. Helpful, kind. But this afternoon ...' She paused, took a breath. 'I suppose I believe that we should be careful. Knowing that he might be capable of such a thing negates it, doesn't it? It's kind of like finding out a man's a liar. He doesn't deceive you easily after that. I won't be swayed by anything I dream.'
'But you aren't going to give up sleeping?' Vandien filled in.
'Oh, I'll sleep, all right.' Ki lifted her head, slowly scanned the camp. Willow was a motionless huddle under the wagon, and the door of the cuddy was shut as tight as Goat could slam it. She ducked her head and brushed her lips down Vandien's face to his ear. 'I'll sleep if there's nothing better to do.'
'Um.' He settled more comfortably. 'You're warm. Feels good on my ribs. Well. So, what are we goingto do after we drop Goat in Villena?'
She lifted her mouth from his neck. 'If you're too tired, just say so.'
'I'm not too tired. I just enjoy being persuaded. And it brought to mind what I heard in town today. About a week from now, there's going to be a festival in Tekum. The Duke will be there, with all his retainers, and there will be jugglers and street musicians and wrestling on the village green ...'
'And so?' Ki asked, loosening the lacing of his shirt.
'And so I thought we might want to stay and enjoy it.'
'Not a good idea,' Ki said decisively. 'Does this tickle?'
'Not exactly, but it's nice. Why not the festival?'
Ki paused to answer him. 'Timing's all wrong. We should be nearly to Villena by then. Because the Duke will be there, and if the Duke will be there, then his Brurjans will be there, and if the Brurjans are there, then we don't want to be there.'
'But we'd be part of a crowd, hardly noticeable in the throng. There'd be a lot to see and do, and maybe we could pick up some freighting that will take us out of Loveran. Even if we don't, the man who issued our papers today said that Tekum boasts a number of good swordsmen, and that the Duke always offers a purse for the ... hey! Be careful of my ribs, will you?'
'I hate this damn belt buckle. Next town we come to, I'm buying you a different one.'
'It works fine if one doesn't get in a rush about it, Ki.' His hands moved lazily to her assitance. 'But you could buy me a new one at the Duke's festival in Tekum if you want. Staying for it would delay us a few days at most.'
'Delays are one thing that I have no tolerance for,' Ki said pointedly.
'And you say I'm impatient and impulsive.' He sighed theatrically as he reached for her.
Ki awoke to darkness. Vandien's elbow was in her ribs; sleepily she shifted away from it and resettled herself in the quilts. Then she heard again the sound that had wakened her. Willow drew another shuddering breath, sniffed again. For long moments Ki listened to her weeping, trying to imagine what could be wrong with her. At last she rose and went to her. The dry earth was warm beneath her bare feet. She crouched by the wagon, gripping a spoke of one of the wagon's wheels. 'Willow?' she whispered gently.
The prone figure of the girl twitched. She buried her face deeper into her crossed arms. 'Go away,' she said in a small, muffled voice.
'All right, if that's what you want.' Ki knew that some kinds of grief did not bear sharing. But others did. 'I'll go away, Willow. But if you change your mind and want to talk to someone, or just have someone sit up with you, let me know. I'm not hard to wake.'
Willow took in a gasping breath and suddenly lifted her face to stare at Ki. In the deep shadows under the wagon, her eyes were two smudges in her pale face. 'That's wonderful.' She spat out the words.'Now you'd like to listen to me. Now, when it's too late! Well, there's nothing to tell you, Ki. Nothing's left. Unless you want to hear about a bad dream I had. Unless you want to share my nightmare with me!' The last she all but shrieked at Ki. Ki stood and backed stiff-legged from the wagon, repulsed not so much by Willow's words, but by the low chuckle that echoed them; a laugh she would swear came from within her wagon.
She sensed Vandien's wakefulness even before she touched him. She snugged her body against his, belly to back, feeling chilled despite the warmth of the night, and shrugged the covers up.
'What happened?' he asked softly.
'I don't know. I heard Willow crying and went to see what was wrong. She said ...'
'I heard. Goat?'
'I think so. I think he got into her dreams somehow and gave her a nightmare.'
'Or maybe she just had a nightmare about him.'
'I hope so,' Ki muttered against his neck. 'But somehow I don't think so.'
Morning came muted in grey. The bright blue skies that had shimmered over them for days were suddenly robed with clouds. The air was muggy, the team restless in the charged atmosphere. Rain, Ki thought to herself, and thunder. She breathed deeply of the heavy air but it didn't satisfy her lungs. She rolled from the blankets and staggered upright.
Vandien sat cross-legged by a tiny fire, a mug of tea balanced on one knee. He raised his brows at her as she rubbed her face. 'Why didn't you wake me?' she demanded.
'I thought we could all use a little extra rest.'
She drew water from the cask on the wagon and sloshed it over her face. She ducked to peer under the wagon. 'Where's Willow?' she asked, turning to accept a mug of tea from him.
'Sleeping ...' His voice faded as he stooped to poke at her empty blankets. The eyes he raised to Ki were anxious. 'She's gone,' he said needlessly.
'How long?' Ki wondered, 'and where to?'
He shrugged. 'I've been up about an hour. I thought she was still sleeping.'
'Goat!' They said the word simultaneously, but it was Ki who dragged the wagon door open. The boy was there, lying on his back with one arm flung out. A foolish smile was on his swollen face. As the light touched his eyes, they opened. He turned his head to squint at them. The smile faded.
'Oh. Good morning.' There was heavy sarcasm in his voice. Ki ignored it.
'Do you know anything about Willow?' she asked anxiously.
The fatuous smile returned. 'Oh, yes,' he replied leisurely. 'I know lots about Willow. More than she knows herself,' he added, a giggle in his voice. 'Where's she gone?' Vandien demanded impatiently. 'There's bound to be patrols along this stretch of road, and if she's spotted alone, with no papers ...'
'Gone?' The word came out of Goat as if it were a rock he'd discovered in his mouth. 'Willow's gone?'
'Yes,' Ki told him angrily. 'And if you know where, you'd better say now.'
'She can't be gone.' Goat sat up, frowned, then winced and put his hand to his jaw. 'My face hurts still, you pile of sheep dung,' he told Vandien angrily. In the next breath he muttered, 'She wouldn't dare be gone. She can't be gone.' He glared at them as if he suspected a trick. 'She's probably off peeing in the bushes.'
'Sure she is. Since dawn,' Vandien agreed sarcastically. He turned to Ki. 'Now what do we do?'
She shrugged. 'We can wait for her to come back. But we aren't sure that she'll do that. Or we can look for her. Damn. I should have stayed with her last night, made her tell me what she was crying about.'
'I should have tried to talk to her,' Vandien added guiltily. 'But I was just so tired.'
Ki shook her head. 'None of this does us any good now. There's no good in worrying about what we should have done. The question is, What do we do now?' She turned aside from them, climbed up to the top of the wagon itself. 'Willow!' she called. But the heavy air of the gathering storm muffled her shout. Ki turned slowly, scanning the prairie in every direction. Its seeming flatness was a deception. The tall dry grass and low growing brush were moving in the winds of the rising storm like the waves stirred by a storm over water. Any of a hundred rises and dips could be hiding Willow, even if she were walking back toward them. And if she were deliberately hiding, lying flat in a swale of grass, they could look for days and never see her.
'Where did she go, Goat?' Vandien's voice was flat. And why did she go?'
'How would I know?' Goat demanded angrily. 'I was sleeping in the wagon, stupid. It wasn't my job to watch her.'
'Goat.' Ki cut into the argument. 'Did you get into Willow's dreams last night?'
He scrambled out of the wagon. He suddenly struck her as ridiculous, his clothes awry and his hair wild from sleep, his pale eyes huge in his swollen face. Her question hung in the air between them, and as she looked at his childish stance, his arms crossed stubbornly over his narrow chest, her own words seemed silly. This spoiled and
