Earthseed

shouted. “They’re stuffed with dry grass.” Others raced toward the remaining cabins. The space behind the doorway of the nearest cabin flickered and then glowed.
    “What are you doing?” Zoheret shouted. “Do you want to burn down the forest, too?” She hurried toward Tonio. “This isn’t why we came here.”
    Tonio grinned. “They’re going to pay for what they took, one way or another. And the wind’s blowing toward the lake. The fire won’t get out of the clearing.”
    Zoheret stared past him at the cabins. As flames licked at one doorway, the group cheered. Helena and Cho Lin danced; Helena kicked up her legs while Cho Lin’s long black braid slapped her back. Muhammad and Federico linked arms and beat the ground with their feet. Zoheret watched the burning buildings, glancing toward the trees beyond the clearing while hoping the wind would not change direction. The air was thick with the smell of burning wood.

    The flames were beginning to die. Zoheret stood at the edge of the clearing with Bonnie. The wind blew toward the lake in gusts. Whitecaps had formed on the dark-gray water; thick slate-colored clouds had formed overhead. The rest of the group sat by the fireplace, giggling as one cabin, a charred cube of wood, collapsed.
    The wildness had almost infected her. The light of the fire had flickered over the faces of the dancing young people until it seemed that they too were aflame. Now the fire was burning out. Tonio thrust a stick into the fireplace, stirring the ashes aimlessly.
    The rain came quickly. Thunder slapped Zoheret’s ears; the rain fell in sheets, driving them all under the trees. As Tonio raced by, he pushed Bonnie out of the way.
    Zoheret grabbed his arm. “What are you going to tell Lillka?”
    “What we did. Ho and his crowd won’t steal anything again.” Water dripped from his long brown hair. “Do you really think Ho would have bargained with us?”
    “We could have left him a message.”
    “I thought that’s what we just did.” He looked at Bonnie. “Your friends’ll be sorry.”
    The others hurried up the hillside, disappearing in the darkness under the trees. Tonio ran after them. Bonnie huddled against a trunk, her head down. Zoheret said, “We have to go back.”
    “I won’t go.”
    “You can’t stay here.”
    “Why can’t I?” Bonnie raised her head; her hair, darkened by the rain, was plastered against her brow and neck. “They don’t want me back there.”
    “Bonnie, please.”
    “You go. I won’t move. I’m not going back.”
    “Then I’m staying. I won’t leave you here alone.”
    Bonnie looked at her wildly, then began to cry. Zoheret took a step toward her, wanting to console the girl. Bonnie’s shoulders shook; her face was wet with tears and rain. “It isn’t true. I didn’t help Ho and I didn’t help the thieves.”
    “I believe you. Will you come back with me?”
    Bonnie nodded. They climbed the hill. The rain fell more slowly, trickling down Zoheret’s neck.
    “I tried to talk Ho out of leaving the settlement,” Bonnie said. “I told him it would divide us, that we should stick together. I was right. Look what happened.”
    “So you decided not to go with him because of that?”
    “No.” Bonnie pushed a low tree branch out of the way and waited until Zoheret had passed. “I didn’t want to be with him anymore.” She walked at Zoheret’s side. “When he left, I was glad, even though I thought he was making a mistake. And Manuel left with him. It meant I could start over. I was wrong about that, too.”
    “You left Manuel for Ho, didn’t you?” Zoheret tried not to sound too curious.
    “Is that the story? I’ve heard others, like that they were both sharing me. I didn’t leave anybody. Manuel was getting tired of me, and I started seeing Ho, and then Manuel wanted to see me again, so I did, and then he didn’t seem to care. He wanted to keep me around while he did what he wanted. So I went back to Ho, because that was the only way I could get back at Manuel. Stupid, isn’t it?”
    “No.”
    “It is. Ho got tired of me, too, and I didn’t like him that much anyway. So it was all for nothing. I thought I cared about Manuel, but I guess I really didn’t. I slept with him just to get it over with.”
    They circled a bush. “I guess Ho got bored, too,” Bonnie went on. “Well, it doesn’t matter now.”
    “Bonnie—” Zoheret started to say.
    “I’m glad they burned the cabins.”

    It had been