Page 120 of Circle of Days

She did not know what had happened to Stam. Zad said the herders had nothing to do with it, but he would have said that anyway. Bez was saying nothing, but he had dropped a hint about the balance required by the gods. On the other hand, perhaps Stam really had, inexplicably, gone for a swim in the night and drowned.

Troon was enraged, but he did not know who to be mad at.

Yana was deeply thankful to be relieved of her unwanted boy-man. “I’m just glad I’m too old to conceive,” she said. Fortunately, there were no more single men in Farmplace, Bort having already refused Yana, so Troon could not force her to couple with someone else.

In the heat of the day, when Pia felt she had to stop work or faint, Yana told her to go and look for crab apples in the wood. Pia exchanged her bag for a basket and gladly went into the relative cool of the trees. Olin made interested noises at the changed scenery. He was paying more attention to his surroundings.

Most of the early apples were so small that they were all skin and core, and Pia foraged through East Wood looking for larger ones until she emerged onto the plain. There she saw no herders and few cattle, which was odd. The herd had moved west. She walked in that direction, curious.

The cattle seemed to have been drawn to the Break, she sawas she arrived there. Many of them were looking south, across the fields, where twenty or so farmers were working. When cattle were this close together the smell was overpowering.

The beasts seemed in a strange mood. They did not crop what little grass there was. They were abnormally still. To Pia they seemed menacing.

She had never been comfortable with cattle. By contrast, Han had moved among them as easily as among people. He had explained to Pia that it was important not to approach them from behind, as that could startle them, nor directly in front, which they would see as a challenge. And he would talk to them so that they got used to his presence. He had been herding from the age of eight until he and Pia ran off together, so the lore had been instinctive with him. Pia remained nervous.

Now, she saw, the herders were in front of the beasts, trying to move them back, using long, slightly flexible herding sticks. She recognized Zad and Biddy. Their little girl, Dini, was watching from the edge of the wood with a group of herder children. What was going on?

She put down her basket next to the children and went to Zad. He was walking up and down in front of the herd, shouting and waving a leafy branch to scare them off. It was not working.

Pia said: “What’s the matter with the cattle?”

There was no sign of Zad’s usual charming smile. He said curtly: “They’re thirsty, and they can smell the river.”

Pia was horrified. There were more cattle here than anyone could count. They were a threat of tremendous power, hardly contained. “But if they cross the fields they will ruin the crops!”

Zad replied impatiently: “That’s why we’re turning them back. We don’t want a fight with your people.”

This was terrifying. The farmers could not afford to lose a single stalk of wheat. Yana’s farm was farther downriver, so Pia and her family would not be directly affected, but if their neighbors were starving it would be hard not to share—yet they had nothing to spare.

She looked at the farmers working in the Break. It seemed they were not aware of the danger. They could surely see the herd, but it was not obvious to them what the cattle might do. Pia had to warn them.

With Olin on her back she hurried across the field. The first person she came to was Deg, the son of Bort. “Those cattle are trying to get to the river,” she said. “You should be ready to get out of the way.”

He stood still, looking doubtful. “The cattle have no right to come this way,” he said in a tone of protest. “They’ll destroy the crop.”

“Tell them that, then,” she said impatiently, and she moved on. She walked as fast as she could.

The next person she came to was Duff, carrying a bag of water to his field. He was a lot more sensible than Deg. She repeated her message.

Duff said: “Right.” He emptied the water from his bag, making it lighter to carry. “How about I warn everyone on the west side of the field and you take the east?”

She thanked the gods for a smart person. “Good!” She hurried on.

She did as he had suggested, speaking to people on the eastside of the Break. None of them was as stupid as Deg. They looked anxiously at the distant herd and thanked her for the warning.

By the time she had spoken to everyone, she was within sight of the river. She stopped, panting. At that moment, Troon and Shen appeared. “What on earth is going on?” Troon demanded angrily.

Olin immediately started to cry. Pia took him from her back and rocked him, and he calmed.

Troon said: “Well?”

Pia pointed at the herd. “The thirsty cattle can smell the river,” she said breathlessly. “The herders are trying to turn them back, but they may cross the fields. I’ve warned the people working there.”

“This is outrageous!”

“No need to thank me for alerting everyone.”

He was impervious to sarcasm. “They could ruin the crop of the entire Break!”