The Hob's Bargain

next valley. But then why didn’t he stay to meet us?”
    â€œNot a Beresforder,” refuted Kith. “I don’t think a human could do this. Certainly no one I know from Beresford.” He went on mumbling to himself about wildlings, but I was paying more attention to my arm than to what he said.
    After a moment Kith stopped speaking and knelt beside me. “How badly are you hurt?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I replied, breathing through my nose like a winded horse. “I’m afraid to look.”
    â€œSo someone killed that thing and dressed Aren’s wounds,” said Wandel, sounding fascinated—but then it wasn’t his arm he was talking about. “I wonder who he was and why he didn’t stay.”
    Kith shook his head. “I think we ought to get back to camp. Where there is one of those things, there might be more. If you’ll help me get her over my shoulder, I’ll carry her, and you can collect the wood we’ll need on the way back.”
    â€œIt’ll be easier if I carry…,” began Wandel. I had my eyes closed again, and I didn’t get them open fast enough to see what caused him to stop talking.
    â€œI can walk,” I offered, squinting up at Kith.
    Maybe the look that Wandel had gotten was similar to the one I received. It shut me up, too.
    With considerable help from Wandel, I managed to get to my feet. Kith shoved his left shoulder into my midriff and heaved me up. The sudden change in position put me out faster than a candle in water.

    W HEN I AWOKE, A FAMILIAR TUNIC WAS BOUNCING around under my face.
    â€œI can walk,” I said groggily.
    â€œNo,” Kith replied firmly. “From the amount of blood you left behind, I’m surprised you awoke before morning. If I set you down and you pass out, it’ll be twice the work to get you back up. We’re not far from camp, Pest. Just keep quiet ’til we get there.”
    Of the rest of the trip back I have a hazy memory of watching the back of Kith’s calves gray in and out of my shaky vision. I really only recovered consciousness when the steady jolt of Kith’s shoulder in my stomach stopped, and I started to slip off.
    He muttered a word I’d never heard him use before and made an attempt to forestall my fall. I ended up on my blankets beside the small fire pit. My arm throbbed, my rump ached where it had landed on a rock, my head hurt; but overall, I decided, I would survive.
    He left me and fumbled a bit through my saddlebags until he came up with my extra sweater, which he dropped over my head. The additional warmth was welcome—with the sun down, it was a lot colder. The warm tunic I’d worn into the woods was less warm when it was missing the bottom third of its length.
    â€œKith…,” I began, feeling much better right side up, but he stopped me with a gesture.
    â€œRest a bit, Pest. We need to wait for Wandel, and I need to catch my breath.” He settled down beside me and handed me a small flask. “Take a drink of this.”
    I don’t know what I expected—some sort of alcohol, I suppose, even though I knew Kith didn’t drink strong spirits. What I sipped wasn’t alcohol, but some kind of herb-laden apple cider. That and the stew they’d concocted for dinner had me feeling almost myself by the time Wandel made it back to camp with his load of firewood.
    The men ate and I half-dozed by the fire. I should have gotten up and washed my bowl, but it was too much effort. When he was done eating, Kith took my bowl with him to the stream. Maybe I’d have to make sure I was wounded every time I traveled. It sure got me out of a lot of work.
    When Kith returned, he sat cross-legged next to me, on the other side of the fire from Wandel. “Now tell me what happened.”
    I sighed. “You already know most of it. I looked up, and there he was, the creature you found dead. I was so busy wondering what he was, that his attack took me completely by surprise.” I thought a moment. There was something odd about the fascination I’d felt for him, but it was too hard to describe, so I let it go. “He was aiming for my throat, but I got my hand in front. He bit it and shook his head like a dog killing a rat, and that’s all I remember.”
    â€œYou don’t remember anything about the…” Kith’s voice trailed off for a moment. “About whatever it was that