Free The Frost Child by Eoin McNamee Page B

left, Dr. Diamond called Cati and told her, "I need you to come with me to wake the Raggies."
    Cati was delighted at the prospect of some time alone with Dr. Diamond, but he went so fast that she was running to keep up with him and didn't have enough breath to ask questions as they raced along the river to the harbor.
    When they got to the warehouse, Dr. Diamond led her straight to the Raggies' Starry. He looked in at the sleeping children.
    "Wake Wesley first," he said. Wesley was their leader--a freckled, tough-looking boy. Cati touched his head and called him. He opened his eyes and looked at her, puzzled.
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    "Cati!"
    "Wake up, fish boy," she said teasingly, and smiled. He sat up.
    "Wesley," Dr. Diamond said urgently, "I need to talk to you."
    While the two of them talked in low voices, Cati went among the Raggies, waking them. Some of the children jumped straight up and gave her a hug. Others looked dazed. She recognized faces: the marksmen, Mervyn and Uel; the kind and practical Silkie, who set about organizing the smaller children.
    When Cati finished, Dr. Diamond called her.
    "It's time to go," he said. She opened her mouth to object but realized that he was right. There was too much to do.
    "Never mind, lass," Wesley said. "There'll be time and plenty of it for a chat at the Workhouse."
    "At the Workhouse?"
    "The Raggies are coming to stay there for a while. Doctor reckons we should all be together when them Harsh come. So go on and get working!"
    Once again on the way back, the doctor was preoccupied. Cati didn't dare question him. When they reached the Workhouse he went straight back to the Starry.
    "Come on, Cati," Rutgar yelled from the walls. "The Workhouse won't rebuild itself."
    Cati had never worked so hard in her life. All day they hauled timber and stone from hidden storepits and the riverbank, strengthening the walls of the Workhouse and
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    the defenses in front of it. Everyone worked at the defenses. Even Contessa left the kitchens after making enough warm gruel to keep everyone going. Cati looked to where Contessa worked beside her and saw that her hands were bleeding from handling the rough stone.
    Cati was pushing a barrow of sand when she heard a commotion down below: an angry girl's voice, and men cursing. She put down the barrow and slid along the snowy slope to find a group of Samual's men surrounding a small figure. Cati broke through the ranks of men. To her absolute and complete amazement she recognized the ragamuffin.
    "Rosie!"
    "Cati! These big galoots won't let me go."
    "She's a spy," one of them said. "We caught her sneaking about down at the river."
    "I'm not a spy," she said angrily, "and I wasn't sneaking about. I was looking for someone."
    "If she's that innocent, then what is this?" a familiar drawling voice said from behind them. It was Samual, and he was holding a long, razor-sharp hairpin in his hand.
    "That's mine!" Rosie said. "Give it back."
    "I don't think so," Samual said.
    "There's been a mistake!" Cati said. "She's a friend of ours--from Hadima."
    "Then what is she doing here?" Samual said. "Sent to spy, no doubt."
    "What I'm doing here," Rosie said, "is trying to warn
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    you about the Harsh. There's a fleet of them on their way."
    "There, you see?" Cati said. She stepped forward and took Rosie's hand in hers.
    "We know that already," Samual said. "You could have heard that from anybody around here."
    "And what is she doing with Johnston's symbol pinned to her?" a woman called Moorhead, one of Samual's lieutenants, asked. There was a single red rose pinned to Rosie's lapel, and the red-faced woman tore it off.
    "I never saw it before! I didn't even know it was there!" Rosie looked at the ring of faces around her. "I can't believe I went through hell and high water to get here to warn you," she burst out, "only to be told I'm a spy!"
    "Exactly." Cati glared at them.
    Rosie embarked upon a stream of cursing that caused Rutgar's men to look up from what they were doing and