Botanicaust

pressed her lips together and shook her head. “ They go back at sundown. ”
    As a distraction, he pulled out a string he ’ d woven from cattail fibers. “ Looks like we have some time, girls. Let me show you a trick. ”
    With deft fingers, he twisted the string into a cat ’ s cradle. The girls leaned in, mesmerized, and soon started showing him string games of their own. Confined as they were, they played and laughed, and with Tula ’ s encouragement, the twins seemed eager to learn his language. He tried to tell a knock-knock joke, but the children didn ’ t understand the concept of knocking to enter a room, and they all ended up belly laughing at the confusion.
    Levi was in the middle of another joke when a wild-eyed man appeared at the lean-to entrance. Wearing nothing but dripping fur leggings, the stranger grimaced and glanced at the sky before diving into the shelter. Eily and Ana squealed, pulling back to the rough walls. The logs shifted, threatening to collapse the structure as the man squeezed amidst their legs. He smelled like wet ashes, and each breath wheezed from him as if he ’ d just run a marathon “ Flame runnas, ” he gasped. “ Keep the peace. ”
    Tula quaked with fear, curling into a ball as far from the cannibal as she could get in the tiny space.
    Levi looked from her to the twins. “ What mean? ”
    The twins watched the stranger with caution, but also glanced out to the sky and back. Ana wiped her hand across her nose and answered. “ No fight. Safe until flame runna goes. ”
    Levi glared at the man, then nodded once.
    In the already overcrowded shelter, they could not sit without physical contact with the stranger. He reeked of smoke and wet fur and nervous sweat. The cannibal shifted to sit cross-legged. His braided beard dripped bloody river water onto his naked chest; a bone labret pierced one side of his lower lip, and a tear in the other side bled profusely. Small blisters stretched from shoulder to the back of his wrist, likely from a duster flash he ’ d escaped.
    Thick silence filled the lean-to. Although the cannibal faced Levi, Tula could feel the stranger ’ s sidelong attention crawl over her and the twins. Every time he looked, she shuddered. Be calm. Show no fear . Like the implicit restriction against killing the Knowing, there was apparently a cannibal law regarding truce in the face of a greater enemy. After that, she assumed they were fair game.
    And this was no man of Knowing, like Osula and Brin. This was a true cannibal, one who only hours before had been hunting them. Tula ’ s heart raced so fast she thought it might escape her chest.
    They must prove to this man they were formidable opponents. Levi didn ’ t speak Cannibal. She had to take the lead.
    “ How many hunters? ” Her voice emerged too high. The stranger half turned from Levi to blatantly rake her up and down out of the corner of his eye. “ You a flame runna. ”
    Taking a steadying breath, she said, “ I ’ ve got the Knowing. The Flame Runners don ’ t respect that. ”
    His eyelids twitched, and he shifted to face her head on. He searched her again, looking for scars, she was sure.
    She willed her words to be firm. “ Spirit Healers. Our skin don ’ t need the marks. ” Best to include the twins in the safety net.
    He flicked a look back at the twins, then returned his focus to her. “ What about him? ”
    She didn ’ t know how to protect Levi. “ My mate. ” Maybe it would be enough. “ How many hunters? ”
    The man curled his lip in disgust. “ Flame runnas took out most. ” He eyed her again, then leaned forward and wrapped his hand around her wrist. “ We find the rest at dark. You come for healing. ”
    Tula ’ s chest tightened in fear. She hadn ’ t counted on her bluff being called.
    Levi grabbed the stranger ’ s hand and yanked it off Tula ’ s wrist. “ Get your hands off her. ”
    The man complied, but faced off with Levi, shoulders back as they stared each other down. Classic cannibalistic dominance move, but she noted he favored his burned arm. She had to deflect any violence. What would Osula say? “ What you got to trade? ”
    He didn ’ t answer.
    “ Ain ’ t worth nothing to me to help you. We move on. Keep the peace. ”
    Repeating his claim for sanctuary appeared to deflate his aggression a bit. He didn ’ t look at her, but answered. “ Depend on how strong you healing. ”
    Again, silence tightened around them. The twins had