Free Draggah by Toby Neighbors Page A

feel uneasy.
    “ You okay? ” he asked, but she could tell he wasn ’ t worried about her.
    “ I ’ m fine, ” she said.  “ What ’ s wrong with you? ”
    He looked at her as if she was a raving lunatic.
    “ I can ’ t keep up with all the things falling apart in my life, ” he muttered.
    The tribe was moving again, making the slow trek across the open prairie.  Olyva could tell that Rafe wasn ’ t happy about the direction they were traveling in.
    “ Where is Tiberius? ” Olyva finally asked.
    “ That ’ s a good question, isn ’ t it, ” he said, his voice dripping with cynicism.
    “ I don ’ t understand, ” she said.  “ I thought you left together to look for Lexi. ”
    “ We did, but then the Rogu had to hunt the Tamakas and when I turned around Tiberius was gone.  He took our horses too. ”
    “ You ’ re mad about the horses? ”
    “ No, I ’ m mad because I don ’ t know where the hell my best friend is, ” Rafe said angrily, his voice getting louder and louder the more he vented his frustration.  “ I ’ m mad because the Rogu could track him, but they won ’ t.  They say they have to stay with the tribe in case the Hulpatah attack during the night. ”
    “ The Hulpatah? ” Olyva asked.
    “ That ’ s what they call the Graypees, ” Rafe said.  “ I have no idea where Tiberius has wandered off to, and we can ’ t even begin looking for him until the morning. ”
    “ I ’ m sure he ’ ll be alright, ” Olyva said, trying to reassure Rafe.
    “ It ’ s just like him to disappear.  He ’ s the new chief of this tribe, as mind boggling as that thought is, and still he feels free to leave whenever the urge strikes him. ”
    “ You think he ’ s irresponsible? ”
    “ Not irresponsible, ” Rafe said, “ just undisciplined.  A soldier never leaves his post. ”
    “ Tiberius isn ’ t a soldier. ”
    “ You think I don ’ t know that, ” Rafe nearly shouted.  “ How the hell are you so calm?  Look at you, you ’ re growing patches of stems, doesn ’ t that bother you at all? ”
    Olyva thought for a moment.  She guessed that seeing the strange looking woody patches on her pale skin would have horrified her before they had been banished from Avondale, but now, she didn ’ t seem to mind.
    “ I know you don ’ t like the way I look, ” she said slowly.
    “ No, ” Rafe said.  “ Don ’ t do that.  Don ’ t blame me for this.  I never would have gone near those damn trees if I had known what they might do to you. ”
    “ The trees were just doing what they had to do to survive, ” Olyva said.
    “ What? ” Rafe shouted.  “ You can ’ t be serious. ”
    “ Should I blame you for slaying the Graypees, or were you doing what you had to do to survive and keep me safe? ”
    “ That ’ s completely different, ” Rafe snapped.  “ We weren ’ t harming those trees.  We wouldn ’ t have burned them down if they hadn ’ t tried to kill you. ”
    Olyva felt her face flush with anger.  She hadn ’ t realized that Rafe and Tiberius had set the grove of trees on fire.
    “ You did what? ” she said in an icy tone.
    For the first time, Rafe ’ s ire receded.  He looked at her.
    “ What did you do to those trees? ” she asked again.
    “ We burned them, ” he said.
    “ Why? ” Olyva asked in horror.  “ You burned them? ”
    “ It was the only way to save you. ”
    She turned her head away so that he wouldn ’ t see the tears in her eyes.  She felt conflicted.  On the one hand she understood that Rafe and Tiberius had been trying to save her.  They didn ’ t know what was happening, and since Olyva didn ’ t really know what had happened to her either, she couldn ’ t blame them.  On the other hand, she now had a repulsion to fire.  She didn ’ t want to be anywhere near an open flame.  She understood it; she knew that fire was used to cook food and keep people warm when it was cold, but she also had an overwhelming fear of