Read Online Squire by Tamora Pierce - Free Book Online

work.”
    When she rose with her dishes, he did as well. “And you’ve a knack for it. I heard what you did with the spidrens, your first year. And then with the hill bandits, your second summer.”
    Kel glanced up at Dom, startled. “How did you know about that?” She handed her bowl, plate, and cup to the dishwashers. One of them was Qasim. He smiled at Kel and Dom, and meekly bore a scolding from the village woman beside him, who said it took more than a swipe with a cloth to get a bowl clean.
    “How did I know?” Dom asked, and chuckled. “My cousin the Meathead, remember? He wrote about both in great detail. I feel sorry for him these days, though.”
    “But he’s got the Lioness for knight-master!” protested Kel.
    Dom grinned down at her. “You think that’s fun’? Maybe we’re not talking about the same Lioness. The one I know rides with us a lot - my lord’s one of her best friends. She’s the one with the temper. And if Neal’s learned to keep his opinions to himself, it’ll be more than any of us were ever able to teach him.”
    Kel started to argue, and changed her mind. Dom was certainly right about Neal.
    “Trust me,” Dom said, resting a hand on Kel’s shoulder, “I bet he wishes right now you had his place!” He went to help some men carry a heavy beam down the street.
    Kel resisted the temptation to rub the spot where Dom’s hand had rested. She needed to find work. Was she some kind of fickle monster, that Dom’s smile and touch could make her giddier than Neal’s had? Was she one of those females who always had to moon over a man? Did other girls’ emotions flop every which way? Lalasa had never mentioned it, if hers did, and she was quite good at explaining such things.
    “That’s my doll.”
    Kel looked down. A small girl stared up at her with accusing brown eyes. She was streaked with mud and soot; there were charred places on her skirt, but there was nothing afraid or weary in those eyes.
    “I looked and looked and looked. I thought Gavan stole it because he knew I would cry. She’s my favorite.”
    Kel had forgotten the doll she had cleaned and thrust into her belt. Now she gave it to its owner, who informed Kel that “Mama needs help lifting”.
    “Take me to your mother, then,” Kel said.
    The girl’s home was a shambles. Soot streaked the walls above the windows. Men and boys were on the roof, tearing off burned thatch as they searched for hidden fires. A figure the size of an infant lay in front of the house, covered with a cloth square.
    “That’s my brother,” the girl said, her face stony. “We were running across the street. The house was on fire, and men were shooting arrows, and one hit him. He died.”
    She led Kel into the house. A woman whose eyes were red and puffy from weeping struggled to right an overturned table. A toddler clutched her skirt. Kel got to work with the table while her guide took charge of the toddler. The young mother was happy for the assistance, and asked nothing of Kel past her name.
    They had set the room in order and put the beds out to air when Kel heard someone yell for her. She apologized to the family and ran out, to find Lerant in the street.
    “What have you been doing, rolling in muck?” he demanded scornfully, looking down his short nose at her. “Well, never mind. The Rider Groups are here, and the centaurs, the ones who are going to help search. They’re in a tent outside the main gate. My lord wants you to wait on them. The wine service is in the bags with the blue rawhide ties, with the packhorses. There’s two small kegs of wine in general supplies.” He trotted away, not giving Kel time to reply.
    She drew a bucket of water from a nearby well and poured it over her head to rinse off most of the dirt. Then she went to find the supplies outside the stockade.
    The packs lay on the ground. Raoul’s personal ones had his crest pressed into the leather. Those with blue rawhide ties lay beside them. She had gone