rush towards me. Someone stifles a sob.
“Go on,” Truso says gently. Manet squeezes my arm. “Ronan knocked me down. He said it was rifle shots. There were more: three or four.”
“Five,” he confirms.
“Why would they shoot at you?” someone demands. Neither Ronan nor I answer: how can we?
“How did you know she was dead?” another voice asks. “How could you be sure?”
“I was standing right beside her,” I say stonily.
Truso starts to interrupt the rush of questions, but Ronan’s voice proves clearest. “The first bullet hit her in the temple.”
“How do you come to know so much about weapons?” The suspicion strung through the handful of words turns everyone’s eyes to Ronan.
“We had rifles on Ister,” he says.
“What happened after you knocked Ness to safety?”Truso asks, overriding the others.
Ronan says nothing so I answer for him. “We got hold of our cycles,” I tell them. “I … I checked Esha again.” I stare at my hands, at the dried blood beneath my nails. “They were shooting at us,” I hurry on. “Ronan pulled me away. He said we had to get back here and warn you.”
“You didn’t have any more trouble?” Truso prompts.
“We did.” My tongue baulks.
Ronan fills my silence. “One of them got round ahead of us. He tried to stop us, but we got away.”
I’m grateful that he doesn’t tell them what I did.
“That’s when you got those bruises?”
Ronan nods.
“They might have been followed!” A man leaps up. “They might have led them back here. We—”
“It’s no mystery, how to get here from Summertops,” Truso interrupts. “You follow the track.” An amused murmur ripples through the room and the shouter subsides. “If whoever did this has plans to move against us, then thanks to Ness and Ronan they’ve at least lost the benefit of surprise.”
“We need to send a group to Summertops, to find out what’s happening.”
Truso shakes his head. “Not tonight. And not without thinking it through.” He pauses. “I think we have to assume that whoever fired those shots has taken Summertops. Possibly days ago.”
“You can’t know that,” someone shouts. “You—”
“If they hadn’t taken the farm before this morning,they’ll certainly have done so by now. The community at Summertops has no defence against rifles.”
“We’ve got to find out for certain. We can’t—”
“Our first priority is ensuring our own security.” Truso raises his voice over the sudden babble of discussion. “Whoever it is we’re up against, we know that they’re brutal and armed. They have sentries posted and their policy, quite clearly, is not to ask questions. We need to strengthen our defences.” He scans the room, his eyes settling on the man I saw, our first day, fitting shoes to one of the draft horses. “Tino, we need to get word to Vidya. That two-man jigger, is it ready to run?”
“It is, but I’ll need help getting it to the line – on a wagon will be easiest, then we can ramp it onto the rails.”
“You’ll need help operating it as well,” Ben says. I can feel the tension in Manet’s body as she watches her partner’s face. As he meets her eyes she gives her head a quick shake.
“I’ll go with him.” The voice belongs to a boy whose name I can’t remember. He looks no more than fifteen but his torso has already begun to broaden into manhood.
Truso hesitates before agreeing. “All right. You need to leave tonight. Now. Tell the governors what’s happened, and that we need reinforcements.” He names four more men. “You’ll be on first sentry duty – but all of you, be discreet. If we’re being watched, we don’t want to raise any alarms. It’s business as usual, people. And there are still crops to plant.”
“But our people at Summertops: we can’t abandonthem! They—”
“We won’t help them by rushing in blindly and getting ourselves killed. They’re most likely hostages.”
For myself, I doubt
“Go on,” Truso says gently. Manet squeezes my arm. “Ronan knocked me down. He said it was rifle shots. There were more: three or four.”
“Five,” he confirms.
“Why would they shoot at you?” someone demands. Neither Ronan nor I answer: how can we?
“How did you know she was dead?” another voice asks. “How could you be sure?”
“I was standing right beside her,” I say stonily.
Truso starts to interrupt the rush of questions, but Ronan’s voice proves clearest. “The first bullet hit her in the temple.”
“How do you come to know so much about weapons?” The suspicion strung through the handful of words turns everyone’s eyes to Ronan.
“We had rifles on Ister,” he says.
“What happened after you knocked Ness to safety?”Truso asks, overriding the others.
Ronan says nothing so I answer for him. “We got hold of our cycles,” I tell them. “I … I checked Esha again.” I stare at my hands, at the dried blood beneath my nails. “They were shooting at us,” I hurry on. “Ronan pulled me away. He said we had to get back here and warn you.”
“You didn’t have any more trouble?” Truso prompts.
“We did.” My tongue baulks.
Ronan fills my silence. “One of them got round ahead of us. He tried to stop us, but we got away.”
I’m grateful that he doesn’t tell them what I did.
“That’s when you got those bruises?”
Ronan nods.
“They might have been followed!” A man leaps up. “They might have led them back here. We—”
“It’s no mystery, how to get here from Summertops,” Truso interrupts. “You follow the track.” An amused murmur ripples through the room and the shouter subsides. “If whoever did this has plans to move against us, then thanks to Ness and Ronan they’ve at least lost the benefit of surprise.”
“We need to send a group to Summertops, to find out what’s happening.”
Truso shakes his head. “Not tonight. And not without thinking it through.” He pauses. “I think we have to assume that whoever fired those shots has taken Summertops. Possibly days ago.”
“You can’t know that,” someone shouts. “You—”
“If they hadn’t taken the farm before this morning,they’ll certainly have done so by now. The community at Summertops has no defence against rifles.”
“We’ve got to find out for certain. We can’t—”
“Our first priority is ensuring our own security.” Truso raises his voice over the sudden babble of discussion. “Whoever it is we’re up against, we know that they’re brutal and armed. They have sentries posted and their policy, quite clearly, is not to ask questions. We need to strengthen our defences.” He scans the room, his eyes settling on the man I saw, our first day, fitting shoes to one of the draft horses. “Tino, we need to get word to Vidya. That two-man jigger, is it ready to run?”
“It is, but I’ll need help getting it to the line – on a wagon will be easiest, then we can ramp it onto the rails.”
“You’ll need help operating it as well,” Ben says. I can feel the tension in Manet’s body as she watches her partner’s face. As he meets her eyes she gives her head a quick shake.
“I’ll go with him.” The voice belongs to a boy whose name I can’t remember. He looks no more than fifteen but his torso has already begun to broaden into manhood.
Truso hesitates before agreeing. “All right. You need to leave tonight. Now. Tell the governors what’s happened, and that we need reinforcements.” He names four more men. “You’ll be on first sentry duty – but all of you, be discreet. If we’re being watched, we don’t want to raise any alarms. It’s business as usual, people. And there are still crops to plant.”
“But our people at Summertops: we can’t abandonthem! They—”
“We won’t help them by rushing in blindly and getting ourselves killed. They’re most likely hostages.”
For myself, I doubt
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