Maerillus and Davin kept the outermost ring of tents between themselves and anyone who might possibly be standing on the other side. Maerillus knew his gift had not failed him so far, but he had only had it for a short time, and was uncomfortable relying on something that he knew next to nothing about. Behind him Davin crouched low to the ground, concealed in the knee-high expanse of yellow grass that carpeted this part of the valley.
Nearby, Bode’s voice was unmistakable. “Break them all!” His rough words had a petulant ring to them. “I don’t care how big this filthy place is!”
“We can’t go through all of this,” one of them complained. “Best if we find what we can and get out of here. Somebody might come back anytime.”
This was followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground and breaking. “I said break them!” Bode bellowed.
“You don’t even know what you’re looking for,” someone spat back indignantly. “Salb is right. We grab anything valuable and get out of here.”
Maerillus knew no one would challenge Bode except Salb. Of the two thugs, he was sure Salb was far more dangerous, and he remembered quite well how Salb had nearly killed Niam several days ago.
To Maerillus’s surprise, another voice told Bode he was sick of following his orders. The owner of the voice sounded drunk. “There’s jewelry and liquor here! You’re not trying to find anything for me—just yourself!”
The boldness was new.
Somehow, Bode managed to pull his temper under control. When he spoke, his voice held a note of uncertainty. “Before he got arrested, Dad said his employer told him no one would be coming back. If someone ran this many people off, that means there’s something worth a lot more gold than these little trinkets you’re stuffing in your pockets. I won’t share any of it with you if you don’t shut your lips and look,” he threatened. “Bring me anything that looks . . . different,” he told them.
“I say if we find anything that looks different or valuable, we’ll all have a talk about who gets it and what we do with it.” Salb’s voice held menace.
Emboldened, Card spoke up. “Yeah. You’re not the only one who came this far. It’s only right. You don’t get to decide on something big.”
Bode battered back in a blustery rush. “You’re not the ones who found out about this, and don’t you dare forget it!” His voice cracked and spluttered.
“We’ll see,” Salb said. “We’re a long way from home.”
His words hung in the air. Even Maerillus was unsettled by the unmistakable threat embedded in Salb’s words.
“Get back to looking!” Bode roared. But Maerillus was beginning to wonder who now headed this pack of dogs. He was relieved that they were currently ransacking the ring of tents next to the one he hid behind. It gave him a chance to motion Davin to his spot unseen.
Davin saw him waving and was at his side in moments.
“What’s going on?” he whispered, peering between tents to be sure he hadn’t attracted any attention. Maerillus could see that he nervously fingered his hatchet.
“They’re in the other circle over there. Bode’s having them smash everything they can.”
“So Niam heard right. They are looking for something,” he mused.
“Yeah. But I’m not sure Bode’s calling the shots anymore.”
“Oh?”
“One word. Salb”
Davin winced. “That’s not good. Bode might try to strangle Niam, but Salb will murder him. He’s going to do it to someone eventually.”
“I know,” Maerillus agreed.
“Can you get me closer? We need to see what they’re up to.”
Maerillus nodded and crept forward across the central area where a cooking pot still hung above a bed of ashes. Before sliding into a tent, he made sure no one could see him and motioned to Davin to follow him. He then pulled out a knife and made a slit in the back of the tent large enough for them to a have an easy escape route.
Davin took Maerillus’s lead and made a small hole to peer through as the boys outside went about their rampage. Though Maerillus was sure he was completely concealed, he felt uneasy as Bode and his gang went about tearing through the belongings of a terrified people that had been forced to flee for their lives in the dark of night.