Free Thieves at Heart by Tristan J. Tarwater

and colors. The villages around Tyestown dealt with animals and grew the precious plants and animals used to make the dyes which gave their fibers the rich colors coveted by others in the Valley. One of the towns was supposedly a swamp where a certain kind of snake hunted and dwelt, its venom giving the most rich, purple dye the Barons coveted for their own garments.
    Tavera was trying to decide what her favorite color was as she walked down the street where merchants had swatches of fabric outside. Thin summer reed linens, thick sheepbush spun for winter garments and even animal skins dyed colors they weren’t supposed to be. She saw what was obviously a rabbit skin dyed a funny shade of grey and green hanging from the top of a stall and Tavera wondered if it would look nice with her cloak. But the greenish hue would make it stand out more. White was nice but got dirty quickly. The grey was very pretty and looked so soft, Tavera felt her hands twitch wanting to touch it.
    How many rabbits would it take to line the inside of a cloak? Probably more than she could afford. More than she could take. She didn’t know how to catch rabbits either. The rabbit furs hung outside her reach, twisting in the slight breeze. Tavera pursed her lips together as she considered what it would take to steal the contents of an entire stall of hides and she squeezed her forearm, feeling the hard little band of muscle there.
    Her ear twitched under her hair and she turned around, still squeezing her arm. Down the street came a group of children, talking and whooping. Two of them carried wooden boxes with holes in them, something moving inside. Tavera took one last glance at the rabbit skin she coveted and followed after them, keeping to the side as they walked, one of the boys was swinging a stick around while a little girl played with a doll. It wasn’t a fancy doll, just rags but it had a big handful of black wool for its hair and a silly face painted on.
    Some of the children were eating and Tavera decided that they weren’t from Tyestown. They were dressed too nicely and it wasn’t a holiday. They were probably visiting the city for a special purpose, several families traveling together for safety and the children had been brought along for a treat. Their clothes were nice but village nice. If their parents sold everything in their cart the children would probably all receive a treat and maybe a new article of clothing for the next holiday or season, maybe a new pair of soft gloves or boots if it was time. Five children made up the band. Probably cousins and a set of siblings. The little girl had to be related to someone or no one would have let her come along. Tavera was probably of age with the two middle ones. The biggest one offered the other half of his pocket pie to the little girl with the doll and she took it happily, offering a bit to her toy before she took a bite out of it herself.
    They settled in one of the grassy squares. The two biggest children were carrying the crates, a boy and a girl. They settled on the grass and opened the doors. From one of the boxes hopped a fat, speckled rabbit, grey and brown. Its nose wiggled. The other rabbit had to be coaxed out by the boy, a light grey bunny with tufted ears. The boy pulled something out of his pocket and the bunny hopped shyly towards his hand, wiggling its nose and then burying its face in his palm, making him laugh. The little girl reached forward to pet the bunny but fell forward awkwardly as it hopped beyond her reach before she could pet it.
    Derk had given her money for midday meal, asking her to please pay for her food in Tyestown, at least until after the meeting. The money had been stitched into the hem of her sleeve and she bit at the string with her teeth, pulling out the two blue coins that were more than enough for anything she would want to eat. She wanted to approach the children but she hesitated. Tavera didn’t get along with other children very well and the