Feather Read Online Free Page B

it over Alomar’s shoulders. Weave held her baby, the youngest of the tribe, wrapped in a shawl. The rest sat waiting for Alomar to begin. He was not their leader, exactly. Karsh supposed Hunter was their leader, at least when it came to defending the tribe. And Shea was the leader as far as the gardens were concerned. He planned the planting and oversaw the harvest and preserving of the crops. Jem told each man when to stand guard. All the men had their own jobs, and each was respected for his knowledge and hard work. But Alomar, the white-haired, bent old man, held the place of honor at every council.
    “Tonight we will speak of the future,” Alomar said, and there were murmurs of assent. “We feel fear and sadness because evil men have stolen one of our tribe. We must make decisions for the rest of our people and do what is best for all the Wobans.”
    “We must retreat to the mountains,” said Rand.
    Karsh stared at the elder in surprise. The tribe had come to the valley three years ago and had never talked of going back up into the mountains. Life in the mountains was hard. Corn would not grow, and the winter was much colder and longer. The Wobans had nearly starved the one year they spent the winter in the mountains. That was the year after they’d been driven out of their old home. A strong band of greedy men had come and taken over their village. The Wobans had suggested that they work and live together, but the newcomers wanted the entire place for themselves. Rather than fight, the peaceful Wobans had left, taking their children and bags of seeds with them. They left together, seeking a spot where they would not be uprooted again.
    Hunter, Rand, and other men had scouted for months for a suitable new place to live. They had gone northward to avoid other hostile bands. The winter in the high country had decimated the tribe, and the women had begged the men to find a place where they could settle in peace.
    At last, Hunter found this valley. It seemed perfect—far from any other tribes and beyond the boundaries of the old kingdom. It was far from town sites from the Old Times too. That was important because the people still feared the crumbling structures of the old towns and dwellings might harbor germs of the sickness that killed so many. Only on rare occasions did the Wobans explore such a place, and when they brought home things made in the Old Times, Alomar made them boil the items before using them. When they began to build the log and earth lodge, there were only nine men left, six women, and eleven children. They had lived here contented for three years, during which time Neal and Weave’s baby had been born.
    “You want us to end this time of peace?” Jem asked.
    “We do not end it,” said Rand. “The Blens end it. If we want our tribe to live on, we must retreat for a time. When the Blens are gone, we can return.”
    “When?” Hardy asked. “Next year? Do we just give up all that we have worked so hard for to the first people who discover us?”
    “That would be wiser than fighting to the death,” said Rand.
    “We left our old village in the south to the Leeds. You want us to do that again?” Hardy sounded angry, and he leaned forward, scowling across the empty fire pit at Rand.
    “You were a boy then,” Rand reminded him.
    “I was old enough to fight.”
    Alomar held up his hand. “Let us not quarrel. We have one purpose: to protect the Wobans.”
    Rand nodded. “The Blens are upon us, and we all know the Blens are not like the Leeds. They are heartless. They would kill every one of us to have what we have.”
    Hardy sat back, pulling in a deep breath. Karsh was surprised the young man still in his teens had spoken out so sharply in opposition to an elder, but Rand seemed unmoved by the exchange.
    Alomar looked at Hunter. “What say you?”
    “Moving to the mountains seems hasty,” said Hunter. He was a young man, but he was strong and alert. The Wobans depended on him for much