Page 38 of Circle of Days

At first light they stood up. Back in Farmplace, Stam would be waking up and would see that Pia was not there.

At first he would assume that she had gone to forage in East Wood, but soon he would wonder why she was gone so long.

He would remember her previous nighttime disappearances.

He would interrogate Yana, who would claim mystified ignorance, which he would not believe.

The fact that Yana was not weeping anguished tears would confirm to him that Pia’s disappearance was not unexpected, but in fact planned.

Soon he would tell his father of his suspicions. Troon, quicker thinking than his son, would immediately organize a search party. So Pia and Han had to hide as soon as possible.

They heard dogs, and Thunder barked back. This was too soon to be Troon’s search party, so Pia guessed the dogs belonged to the woodlanders.

Then two woodlanders appeared from nowhere and stood in front of them, holding clubs. Pia told herself to be calm. Woodlanders were friendly, nearly always.

The shorter of the two was handsome, and probably vain, for he wore a necklace of some kind of teeth. He said something in the woodlander tongue.

Han spread his arms out, palms upward to show he held no weapons, and said: “We come in peace.”

The second woodlander said: “I know you. You’re Han.”

Han stared at him for a long moment, then said: “Are you Bez?”

“Yes.”

“And this is your brother, Fell.”

Fell heard his own name and smiled broadly, nodding.

“I should have known by the necklace,” Han said.

Pia was looking at Han in surprise.

Han said: “You told me you came from West Wood. I remember now.”

Bez said: “You were kind to me and my brother when we were hungry and destitute. You behaved to us as a member of our tribe would. So now I welcome you as a fellow tribesman.” He looked at Pia. “And your companion.”

Pia said: “Thank you.”

Fell looked hard at their clothes and said: “You need to get dry. Come with us.”

We should be looking for a hiding place, Pia thought nervously. But perhaps these woodlander friends of Han can help us with that, too.

She and Han followed Bez and Fell through the wood to a clearing where there were seven huts. A woman came out of the middle one, and Bez introduced her as Gida. She was attractive and middle-aged, and something in Bez’s tone made Pia think Gida was special to him.

Gida invited them into the hut. At least eight people were lying on the floor around a fire. The air was stuffy and the smell of unwashed bodies was ripe, but Pia did not care, because the warmth was blissful.

Gida spoke to the inhabitants, and Pia heard the note of authority in her voice.

She was no doubt telling them who the visitors were, and they smiled and nodded, evidently accepting her view that Han should be treated as a member of the tribe.

They made room near the fire, and Pia and Han sat down.

Soon steam was rising from Pia’s coat. She slipped it off and let the heat of the fire warm her bare arms.

Bez and Fell sat with them, and Gida ladled soup from the pot on the fire into four bowls and handed them round. Pia drank it without thinking what might be in it.

When she had finished the soup, she spoke to Bez. “We’re running away,” she said. “The farmers will come chasing us to take us back to Farmplace.”

Bez nodded understanding.

“We need a place to hide.”

“This is the best place to hide,” he said. “Lie down here among the others with your back to the door. We won’t let them come in. They will just look through the door and see a lot of woodlanders.”

“What if they insist on coming in?”

“They won’t. We have clubs.”

Pia looked at Han. “What do you think?”

“It makes sense to me. And while we are here we have allies, should things go wrong.”

Pia was not much reassured, but guessed this was their best chance. She nodded. “Thank you, Bez.”

The rain continued heavy, and no one left the hut. Han fell asleep on the floor and Pia did the same soon afterward, despite her anxiety.

They were awakened by a commotion: dogs barking, men shouting, people running around outside. Thunder stood up, the hair sticking up on the back of his neck. Two woodlanders stood at the door of the hut, holding clubs.

Pia peeped out through a hole in the wattle-and-daub wall.

Coming into the clearing were Stam and four of his Young Dogs, all with bows slung over their shoulders and quivers of arrows hanging from their belts.

Rain was pouring down their faces and they had lost their customary swagger—in fact they looked scared.

They were outnumbered by woodlanders. They could not throw their weight around here.

Pia bit her lip. She had known that something like this might happen. She could not tell how it might end. She only knew that she would rather die here and now than return to Farmplace.

Stam said: “We’re searching for a wicked farmer girl who murdered her brother and ran away. Have you seen anyone?”

They had invented the murder story in the hope of gaining sympathy. They did not know about Han, it seemed.

“We haven’t seen any strangers,” said Bez, who had evidently gone outside to deal with the visitors. “Perhaps she drowned in the rain.”

Stam did not see the joke. “We need to look around.”

“You can look, but you can’t enter our huts. People are sleeping.”

Stam did not like that, but he did not make an issue of it. He said to his men: “Stay outside, but take a good hard look into every hut.”

Gida said to Pia and Han: “Quickly, lie down at the back.” Pia picked up her coat.

Han lay on the ground facing the wall. He was surrounded by woodlanders, men and women and children.

She draped her coat over his head and shoulders, to hide his fair hair and his bulk.

Then she lay beside him, front to front. She thought she was hidden by his body.

She heard footsteps splashing nearer, and held her breath. Then she heard Stam’s voice: “Phew, what a stink.” There was a long silence. Then the footsteps moved away.

She waited in suspense. Would Stam be satisfied with this superficial search? She heard his voice, too low for her to make out what he was saying, but in a tone that sounded wearily irritated. Then he spoke more loudly. “They’re not here. Let’s move on.”

She lay motionless, still scared.

A few moments later she heard footsteps approaching the doorway, and Bez said: “They’ve gone.”

Pia breathed easier.

She and Han sat up. “Thank you,” Pia said to Bez. “You saved us.”

Bez said: “I don’t like the boy with one ear. He has a mean face.”

Pia said: “He has a mean heart, too.”

“I’ve sent someone to follow them,” Bez said. “We’ll know if they decide to come back.”

“Thank you.”

Bez left the hut. Some time later he returned and said: “They’ve left the wood.”

Pia said to Han: “I’d like to get away from here as soon as possible.”

Han was not in so much of a hurry. “Let’s think about that,” he said reasonably. “We might be seen by a stray farmer. It might be safer to stay here until dusk.”

Pia was burning to get away, but she saw Han’s point. “And then get on the path to the hills?” she said.

“First we should go to Old Oak and get Zad to give us a cow.”

He was right about that too. She controlled her impatience. “Very well.”

Around midday the storm seemed to blow itself out. Pia and Han left the hut and stood outside. The rain-washed air was cool and refreshing. Han looked up and said: “See that? Blue sky. Do you know what that means?”

“No more rain?” she tried.

“It means we can travel at night. If I can see the North Star, I can find my way.”

Pia was impressed. Farmers did not travel much, and had no need of nighttime navigation, so she had never learned it.

She said: “I’d be glad to travel at night, at least for a while. We should be a long way from farmer country before we show ourselves in daylight.”

Han nodded agreement.

“In which case we should start tonight, after we’ve visited Zad.”

“Yes.”

They went back inside the hut and lay down to rest. If they were going to walk all night, they needed their strength.

Pia did not think she would sleep, but she did. She was in a deep slumber when Gida gently shook her awake. At first she thought she was in the yarrow thicket, and it was time to leave Han and go back to her home; then she realized she had escaped, and immediately felt energized.

She got to her feet and looked outside. She could not see the sun, because of the trees, but she guessed by the light that it was setting. She put on her coat. It had dried in the warmth of the hut.

They thanked Bez, Gida, and Fell, then took their leave.

It was dusk when they emerged from the wood onto the Great Plain.

They looked around in the dim light: no one was in sight.

Stam and his search party had undoubtedly given up a long time ago.

By now Troon would have concluded that Pia had gone to Riverbend.

Han led the way to the hamlet of Old Oak, where he had been living for a quarter of a year—at least in theory: he had spent most nights in the wood with Pia. The thought made her smile.

They found Zad and Biddy and their child, Dini, just finishing supper. Han explained how they had hidden with the woodlanders while Stam searched. “Now they will think Pia has gone to Riverbend,” he said. “Which gives us a few days to get clear of the plain and into the hills.”

“Good,” said Zad.

Han took a breath, then said: “I’ve been a herder since I was eight years old. Do you think I deserve a cow to take with me on this journey?”

Zad smiled. “Yes, I do,” he said. “Come on, let’s choose one before we lose the light.”

Pia stayed and talked to Biddy. She was a dark-eyed, dark-haired woman with an oval face. Pia thought she was quite beautiful. Biddy said: “Why are the farmers chasing you? Why don’t they just let you go?”