Free Battle Cry by Lara Lee Hunter Page B

but she did not like the fact that people seemed to think that she thought of the things on her own. “Father and I came through here once before, not on purpose but because we had to avoid a patrol of soldiers. He told me to pretend that I was one of the people who lived at the farms, to act as if I belonged here, and the soldiers drove right past us. Let’s hope that still works today.”
    It did work. The woman traded Deal a large hunk of the cheese for the gauntlet, saying that she could rework the leather and turn it into a nice gift for her husband. They stopped at a few other stalls; none of them had much to trade, but the farmers were used to trading for other foodstuffs so they offered juniper berries and other things that were both a delight and a good bargain for them.
    By the time they reached the end of the market they only had about seven more miles to go before they reached the mouth of the desert, but they were all highly nervous and tense. Long shadows were starting to stroke the sides of the road before they stopped and took a quick meal near a large rock that sat directly beside the road.
    Deal asked, “Are we stopping for the night?”
    Lucas said a trifle harshly, “No. We can’t afford to stop tonight. I know you are tired, we’re all tired but we must press on. They will never look for us in the desert — and even if they do it will be almost impossible for them to find us there. We have to get off this road; I feel it in my bones don’t you?”
    They all did. There was something coming in, and whatever it was, it was hungry and it wanted blood — theirs.
    A few hours later they spotted the hut, standing at the mouth of the desert. Reena shuddered all over remembering what she had found in there and she turned towards Lucas, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m terrified of walking in there and finding him still alive; they will come after us.”
    “Worry more about the soldiers that are only a mile behind us.”
    Every head turned at Lucas’s words. As soon as he said them they all strained to hear and to see and sure enough, there was a dust cloud on the road that was coming closer. It was obvious that they were being hunted down. Maybe taking the road had not been such a good idea after all, but there had been no way to go through the woods and they needed the fastest, most direct route into the desert.
    Reena wanted to believe that they were simply coming to the outpost to check on things there, but having seen for herself the utter desolation of the place, the way it had been so openly and pathetically deserted, she knew that this was not true. The soldiers did not go there, not anymore. They were looking for them! “Run!”
    They all ran. Their feet kicked up dirt, but they had no choice; they knew that they were leaving their own little plumes of dust and dirt, but they could not help it. The gods did seem to be paying attention, however, because just then a large and gusty wind blew in from the east, stirring up the dirt even further and bending what was left of the grasses in the fields.
    There was a stitch in Reena’s side and sweat was pouring off her entire body. Her hair, tightly braided away from her face, and her eyes stung as sweat rolled down her forehead and into them.
    Everyone was running, most of them were shoulder to shoulder and some were even a little ahead. They were going to make it! If they could get past those first dunes, the soldiers would never see them, and they could get lost in the desert. The soldiers would never believe that they were there — nobody went to the desert, nobody.
    The sand rolled out from under their feet, tripping a few of them and sending them flying onto their faces. Reena and a few others halted to stop and help those who had fallen back to their feet. They kept running but everything was different now. The air was far drier and hotter. It burned as they took it into their lungs and the heat, already high at the edges of the desert grew