TKC 115
Only birdsong and horse snuffles speak to the day
thereafter. We are wordless; two women caught up in private thoughts … and
fears.
As night approaches, I finally speak of what has grown in my
mind during the day.
“Hanna.”
She glances at me. “Do you want to stop? There is light
left.”
“I need to ask you to do something for me. For all of us.”
Her lips tighten. She knows me well enough now to understand
she will not like what I am going to ask of her.
“Go back,” I say. When her eyes widen, I state, “You must
keep the marchers on the rim, Hanna. If the asteroid does not hit, they can go
back immediately and none of what awaits here will happen to them.”
“Go back to what, Lyra?” she blurts. “Even if that rock goes
on its merry way, we have all burned our bridges.”
“That will be easier to bear than slavery.”
Hanna stares at me. “You had a protected upbringing, girl. If
we go back, we will be slaves anyway. There is nothing to return to, do you not
understand that yet?”
She is right. I close my eyes as the truth of her words
settle into my heart and soul. “Then the best we can hope for is to remain on
the outer edges of this trap. Go back and tell them to stay close. To penetrate
this place will mean losing their souls.”
“And you?”
I gesture at the peaks we attempt to reach. “I go on.”
Hanna shakes her head. “You will not make it in time without
my guidance.”
Bringing Leaf to a halt, I say, “I will get there. You must
do this. Keep them there, but send Horin to me. If what I suspect about him is
true, he will make it safe for all of us.”
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