Legacy - Lois McMaster Bujold [150]
“But I would—oh, never mind.” She added, “I’m glad I didn’t know this yesterday. I’d have been a lot more upset.”
“Offends your notions of economy, does it?”
“Well, yes! Or my notions of something.”
He gave her a wink. “You’re worth it at twice the price, Spark. Trust me.”
“Huh.” But she settled again, thumping her heels gently against Grace’s wide-sprung sides to urge her to keep up, looking meditative.
They pulled their horses to a halt at the place, a mile from the bridge, where the road split in three. “So,” he said. “Which way?”
“Don’t you know?”
“No. Well, not north. Not this late in the season.” In the meadows, the cicadas were growing noisier as the morning warmed, but the first frosts would silence them soon enough. “Whichever way we go, we’ll need to travel in easy stages, see, on account of Grace’s delicate condition.” He suspected he could get a lot of use out of Grace’s condition if he played it right.
Not fooled a bit, Fawn looked narrowly at him, and said, “Couldn’t agree more.” She swiveled her head. “But still…which road?” Her eye was caught by something, and she twisted in her saddle. “What’s this?”
Dag followed her gaze, and his stomach knotted coldly at the sight of Saun and Dirla, galloping madly from the bridge and waving at them. Please, please, not some other malice outbreak…I don’t want to have to do all this leaving over again. But their flushed faces, when they pulled up and sat panting on their fidgeting mounts, weren’t that sort of anxious.
“I was afraid we’d missed you,” gasped Dirla.
“Kindly,” said Dag, touching his temple. “But I thought we’d all said good-bye yesterday?” And, while not enough…it had been enough.
Saun, catching his breath, waved this away. “It’s not that. It’s this.” He stuck a hand in his vest and pulled out a leather bag, which clinked. “A lot of folks from our company, and in the patrol, weren’t too pleased with how things went yesterday in the camp council. So Dirla and Griff and I took up a little collection. It’s nothing compared to what Dar stripped you of, I know, but it’s something.” He thrust out the bag toward Dag, who let Copperhead shy away a step.
“I thank you kindly, Saun, but I can’t take that.”
“Not as many chipped in as I thought should,” said Dirla, looking irate. “But at least the blighted camp council has nothing to do with this.”
Dag was both touched and embarrassed. “Look, you children, I can’t—”
“Fairbolt put in three gold tridens,” Saun interrupted him. “And told us not to tell Massape.”
“And Massape put in ten silver mussels,” Dirla added, “and told us not to tell Fairbolt.” She paused in reflection. “You do wonder what they’ll say if they catch up with each other.”
“Are you telling?” Saun asked her, interested.
“Nope.”
Well…the Crow clan was rich. Dag sighed, looking at those earnest, eager faces. He could see he wasn’t getting out of this one. “I suppose the patrol will be wearing out some of those horses I left behind.”
“Likely,” said Saun.
Dag smiled in defeat and held out his hand.
Saun passed the bag across, grinning. “I’ll try and remember all you taught me. No more swordplay in the woods, right.”
“That’s a start,” Dag agreed. “Duck faster is another good one, ’cept you learned that one all by yourself. It’ll stick better that way, I do allow. Take care of each other, you two.”
“The patrol looks after its own,” said Dirla firmly.
Dag gave her a warm nod. “The patrol looks after everybody, Dirla.”
Her return smirk was quite Spark-like. “Then you’re still some kind of patroller. Aren’t you. Take care—Captain.”
They waved and turned away.
Dag waited till they’d stopped craning around and looking back, then hefted the bag and peeked in. “Huh. Not bad. Well, this gives us a direction.”
“How so?” Fawn asked.
“South,” he said definitely.
“I’ve been south,” she objected. “All the way to Glassforge.”
“Spark, south doesn’t even start till you get to Silver Shoals. I’m thinkin’…this season, passage on a flatboat going down the river isn’t too expensive. We could ride slow down as far as Silver Shoals, pick out a boat