Free Pawn’s Gambit by Timothy Zahn

man I’d found, and until I did I couldn’t shoot them down in cold blood. Besides, there were too many of them. I couldn’t get all six before one of them got to Heather and used her as a shield.
    Lowering the bow again, I tried to think. The smart thing to do would be to triple-time it down to Hemlock and recruit some help. But I didn’t dare leave Heather alone. From the bits of conversation I could hear I gathered that Heather had told them I would be returning soon, and it was clear that they had decided to behave themselves until I showed up. But they wouldn’t wait forever, and if they came to the conclusion she was lying things could turn ugly very quickly.
    There were really no choices left to me. I would have to go on in and confront them, playing things by ear. If I bluffed well, or played stupid enough, there was a chance that they would take whatever food we offered them and leave without causing trouble. Even at six-to-one odds murder could be a tricky business; hopefully, I could convince them we weren’t worth the risk.
    One thing I was not going to do, though, was provide them with more weapons. Backing a few yards further into the woods, I found a pile of leaves and hid my bow and quiver beneath it. My big bowie knife went into concealment in my right boot. I then made a wide quarter-circle around the cabin so as to approach from a different direction. Taking a deep breath, I strode forward.
    I deliberately made no attempt to be quiet, with the result that, as I broke from the woods, all eyes were turned in my direction. I hesitated just an instant, as if startled by their presence, and then walked calmly up to them.
    Heather must have recognized my footsteps. “Is that you, Neil? Hello, dear—we have some visitors.”
    â€œI see that,” I replied. I’d been wondering how I could tip Heather off that there could be trouble here, but I saw now that that wouldn’t be necessary. Her voice was cheery enough, but her smile was too brittle and there were lines in her face that I knew didn’t belong there. She already knew something was wrong. “Welcome, gentlemen; it isn’t often that we get this much company.”
    Their apparent leader—who looked to be all of twenty-five—recovered first from the shock of my face. “Uh, howdy,” he said. “My name’s Duke. We were wondering if maybe you could spare some food.”
    â€œWe haven’t got much ourselves, but I guess we’ve got a little extra,” I told him, studying the six as unobtrusively as possible. They were all younger than I was, by twenty years in some cases, which probably gave them a slight edge in speed and maybe stamina. All were armed with knives, and two of them also sported club-sized lengths of metal pipe. On the plus side, I was much better fed than they were and had had a good deal of combat training and experience. If I’d been alone with them, I would have judged the odds as roughly equal. But Heather’s presence put me at a dangerous disadvantage.
    I would have to remedy that, and while I still had the initiative was the best time to try. “Heather,” I said, turning to face her, “why don’t you see how much rabbit meat is left from last night.”
    â€œOkay,” she breathed and started to open the door behind her.
    But Duke was smarter than I thought. “Colby” he called to one of the boys nearest Heather, “go with her and give her a hand.”
    â€œThat’s not necessary,” I said, as Heather hesitated and Colby moved to her side. “She’s perfectly capable.”
    â€œSure, man, but she is blind,” Duke soothed. “Hey, Colby won’t take nothing.”
    â€œYeah,” Colby agreed. “C’mon, kid, let’s go in.”
    â€œNo!” I barked, taking a step toward him. I knew instantly that I had overreacted, but I couldn’t help it. Attached to