Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold Read Free Book Online Page A

been. In fact, he'd been amusing himself by imagining his
return home wearing a wolf-skin cloak.
"This?"
he'd say to Heather, the baker's daughter.
"Oh,
I slew it when it attacked the horses. Mad as the Ravening Beast of
Garwood, so our guide said. It had been trailing us for days. We'd hear
it howling at night, slavering for our flesh . . ."
    He had the story all scripted out, so carefully
refined that sometimes he had to remind himself that the encounter
hadn't taken place. Still, he'd been glad enough when the earl had
decided to increase their pace.
    Earl Kestrel's reason for wanting speed hadn't been
fear. It had been eagerness. Race's horn blast had signaled that he and
Ox had found something. It couldn't be the prince's settlement—in that
case, signaling was strictly forbidden lest it ruin the earl's
opportunities for an advantageous approach—but it was something.
    Now Derian looked around the open meadow wondering
just what Race Forester had found and what it would mean to their
quest. However, until the horses and mules were untacked and groomed,
he wouldn't be free to join the conference.
    As a compromise between duty and curiosity, Derian moved to where he could eavesdrop.
    "Yes, Race," Earl Kestrel was saying. "Evidently
there was a settlement of some size here. Now that you point it out, I
see where the palisade must have been. Those moundsof vines and suchlike, those must have been buildings."
    "Yes, my lord," Race replied. "Fire did for the place
pretty thoroughly, but until we do some digging we can't tell if the
fire came before or after the people left."
    "How can we tell?" called Ox from where he was helping Valet pitch the earl's tent.
    "By what's left behind," Race said. "If we find most
of their goods or bones, then we must face that the fire happened when
they were here. Graves, too. Survivors would have buried their dead
before moving on or left some sort of marker."
    "To do less," Jared agreed from where he was tending the cook fire, "would be an insult to the spirits of the departed."
    Derian nodded thoughtful agreement. Ancestors were
the means by which the living petitioned the natural world. Even if the
dead had no blood kin among the living, they still would be the
ancestors of the settlement group, meant to be revered even as Hawk
Haven still shared with King Tedric and his family reverence for the
spirit of Zorana Shield, who had won the kingdom its freedom following
the Years of Abandonment.
    Since the discussion had become general, he asked:
    "Will we start looking for signs while we still have light?"
    "No, Derian," Earl Kestrel replied. "Long enough has
passed for vines and young trees to sprout from the houses. Almost
certainly, the settlers dug cellars and wells. We do not want to
stumble into these in twilight. Tether the horses well away from the
ruins of the palisade and check for anything that might harm them."
    "Yes, sir. And, my lord?"
    "Yes?"
    "If we're going to remain here some days, we should
make a corral for the horses and mules. Pickets can be ripped up when
the ground is soft like this and I dislike the idea of tying them when
there are wolves about."
    "Good thought. Will hobbles do?"
    "For some, perhaps, but not all."
    "Very well. Tomorrow, you can begin constructing a corral. I want Ox for the excavation."
    "Yes, my lord."
    Mentally, Derian kicked himself for making more work;
then he kicked himself again for acting like a child. Taking care of
the mounts and pack animals was his responsibility and he had done a
good job so far, hadn't lost a single beast. Let the earl and the
others dig through the ruins and make the great discoveries.
    Suddenly he cheered up.
    That way they'd be the ones to disturb any angry spirits.

    T HE MORNING AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL at the Burnt Place, the two-legs began rooting about like young beavers
with an undammed stream or bears scenting a honeycomb in a hollow tree.
    Firekeeper had admired how quickly they had rebuilt
their portable dens and