“And that’ll be one short-arsed conversation,” growled Dow.
“You’re the chief.” Tul turned and strode off through the trees.
“It’s decided.” And Black Dow followed him.
“Uh,” said Grim, shrugging his shoulders and making off with the other two.
“But,” muttered the Dogman. “Hold on…”
They’d gone. So he guessed that made him chief.
He stood there for a moment, blinking, not knowing what to think. He was never leader before. He didn’t feel no different. He didn’t have any ideas, all of a sudden. No notions of what to tell men to do. He felt like an idiot. Even more of one than usual.
He knelt down, between the graves, and he stuck his hand in the soil, and he felt it cold and wet around his fingers. “Sorry, girl,” he muttered. “Didn’t deserve this.” He gripped the ground tight, and he squeezed it in his palm. “Fare you well, Threetrees. I’ll try and do what you’d have done. Back to the mud, old man.”
And he stood up, and he wiped his hand on his shirt, and he walked away, back to the living, and left the two of them behind him in the earth.
Acknowledgments
Four people without whom…
Bren Abercrombie, whose eyes are sore from reading it
Nick Abercrombie, whose ears are sore from hearing about it
Rob Abercrombic, whose fingers are sore from turning the pages
Lou Abercrombie, whose arms are sore from holding me up
Also…
Jon Weir, for putting the word out
Simon Spanton, for not putting the boot in
And who could forget…
Gillian Redfearn, who not only made it happen, but made it better
Copyright © Joe Abercrombie 2007 All rights reserved
The right of Joe Abercrombie to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2007 by Gollancz
An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group
Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin’s Lane, London WC2H 9EA
This edition published in Great Britain in 2008 by Gollancz 13579 10 8642
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 9780575082014
Typeset at The Spartan Press Ltd, Lymington, Hants
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham, Kent
www.joeabercrombie.com
The Orion Publishing Group’s policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
www.orionbooks.co.uk
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Before They Are Hanged tfl-2 Page 61