Second

by M. C. A. Hogarth

  Taylitha looked back; Alysha sprinted behind her, displaying a traction on slick stone no one else could have, should have had. Taylitha followed more carefully, leaving an exasperated Beringwaite standing by a rock on the trail.

  One of the foxine-like Tam-illee had fallen: not Jender, this one, but a silvery male whose name was Roben. In the drizzle it was hard to tell, but Taylitha thought once she reached him that the inside of his ears were pale. Shock? Pain?

  "Are you hurt?" Alysha asked, bracing him.

  "I don't think so," the foxine said, trembling. "Just a little shook up."

  One of their team-mates, standing behind him, said, "He was lucky . . . he caught himself on the side."

  Alysha looked up and found Taylitha's eyes. Even knowing that cold wasn't meant for her, Taylitha shivered.

  "Would you—"

  "—I'll take care of it," Taylitha said, sliding behind Roben on the other side.

  Alysha nodded and stood, pebbles scraping away from her feet as she headed back up the trail. Taylitha squinted into the rain, wondering just what Alysha was going to say to Beringwaite.

  "I wonder what she's going to say to him?" the Tam-illee said.

  "Hopefully whatever it'll take to get him to slow down," the man standing behind them said.

  "Can you stand?" Taylitha asked Roben.

  He nodded, and with her help and his partner's gained his wobbly feet. Once standing he smiled and his tail wagged once or twice in limp relief. "Nothing broken."

  "Thank An and Bast," Taylitha said. She stepped back and felt a strange pattern under one of her toes; lifting her foot for a quick glance, she saw claw marks in the stone. Again. The gray rain quickly filled them, but the image stayed with her, the impossibility begging questions.

  "Now what?" the man behind her said, pulling her from her reverie.

  "Now we keep going," Taylitha replied, clapping him on the shoulder. "Slower, or one of us is going to fall off a cliff."

  Weak smiles. None of them thought she was joking. Unsettled, Taylitha slipped back up until she was third in place, in time to catch the tail end of the argument between Alysha and Beringwaite. The former looked sleek, wet and calmly controlled, the latter contemptuous. Taylitha's heart fell. Had Alysha appeased him or had she actually yelled at him this time?

  "I'm serious, Beringwaite. Don't earn us a forfeiture by pushing us so hard someone gets seriously hurt. That won't reflect well on any of us."

  "I guess not," Beringwaite said. "But if we don't make it to the bottom first—"

  "—winning isn't the only worthwhile goal."

  "Winning is the only goal, furry. And don't you forget it."

  He turned and started back up the trail at his former pace. Alysha stared at him as he retreated through the rain.

  "Now what?" Taylitha asked, horrified at Beringwaite's callous disregard for their lives. She glanced at the edge of the path and the cliffs that were only just obscured by the pines and the rain.

  "Now, watch," Alysha said with determination. She strolled after Beringwaite and when he deigned to notice her pace, replied to his anger. Taylitha followed more slowly . . . and noticed that she could. Alysha's words upset Beringwaite sufficiently that he didn't notice their speed. Taylitha kept her silence and listened carefully: Alysha didn't allow the conversation to falter no matter how difficult the climb or how oppressive the weather. The humidity that followed on the heels of the drizzle was even worse than the rain, particularly heated by the sun.

  "You people are too damned slow, furry."

  "That happens when people are unfamiliar with the terrain and the weather conditions are unfavorable," Alysha said. After a moment, her voice devoid of anger, she said, "You really shouldn't call us 'furry.'"

  "Why not? You are. Furry, that is."

  "Because that's not the name we've chosen for ourselves. We're the Pelted."

  "I don't mean it in a derogatory way. Can't you people take a joke?"

  Alysha said, "Maybe you don't mean it in a derogatory way, but you should consider how we take it."

  "I don't know how you take it and I don't really care. I haven't been polling people on it. It's not like I watch them to see how they react."

  "Maybe you should," Alysha said.

  Beringwaite growled so convincingly Taylitha could have believed the sound from a Pelted throat. "Am I supposed to think about how someone's going to take what I say before I say it all the time?"

  "I don't know. Can you think of any reason you would benefit from doing that?"

  "No," Beringwaite said. "I have better things to do with my time than to worry about what some envious or weak person thinks of me."

  Alysha said, "Maybe people would follow you with more grace if you paid attention to what they need."

  "I'm not interested in what they need," Beringwaite said. "Forrest, maybe you just don't get this yet, but people are lazy irresponsible slobs. If their parents didn't push them out of their nests, they'd never bother to earn their own meals. They don't do good unless someone makes them. And the thing is, they're grateful if you tell them what to do. People like it when you make them act like good people, because they like to think of themselves as good people."

  "So people aren't good unless forced to be," Alysha said.

  "Exactly," Beringwaite said.

  Taylitha couldn't quite stop herself from interjecting. "So how do the people who force other people to be good get to be good themselves?"

  Alysha shot her an amused glance.

  "Their parents beat them into it," Beringwaite said. "You need a strong hand to keep people in line."

  "I see," Taylitha said. She wanted to ask who taught a person's parents to be good, but the look on Alysha's face stopped her. Was that sorrow? Taylitha bit back her words. After a few moments, Alysha pointed the conversation somewhere else and resumed her distraction of Beringwaite.

  "We need to stop," Alysha said.

  "Have you been listening to a word I said, furry? We're already running late."

  "Still," Alysha said. "Perhaps you haven't considered that we might not be able to adapt to this situation quickly enough to suit you."

  "Oh, I've considered it," Beringwaite said with a sigh. "Just my luck to have a pack of losers on my first command. Well, whatever. If they're going to whine, you figure out what's wrong with them. I'm going to go see if there's some faster way ahead."

  As soon as Beringwaite vanished around the bend, Taylitha handed Alysha a water canteen. The woman drank before she even seemed to notice Taylitha, and when she handed the bottle back she looked surprised. A dry chuckle escaped her. "I didn't even see you."

  Taylitha handed her part of a fruit bar and watched with secret gratification as that went down as thoughtlessly as the water. She kept handing pieces over. "I can't believe the things he's saying."

  "Believe them," Alysha says. "They're real to him. They've been made real to him."

  "How can he possibly think any of that hash is real?" Taylitha asked incredulously.

  Alysha's eyes remained on the trail and softened again with that sorrow Taylitha had thought she'd imagined earlier. "Didn't you hear him? Someone beat it into him."

  "You think his elders . . . " Taylitha grimaced. "Are you sure?"

  Alysha shrugged one shoulder. "Completely? Of course not. But few people become as angry and unhappy and frightened and heavy-handed that young without reason."

  Taylitha squirmed against the rock she'd chosen to lean on. "I hate to admit it, but I don't like any theory that forces me to feel sympathy for that idiot."

  Alysha chuckled softly. "Oh, but you should, Taylitha. More than for more obviously sympathetic people. Beringwaite is barely into his life and he's already handicapped. He has seen bits of the truth, but what he's built of those bits will never stand. The foundation is cracked."

  "There were bits of truth in any of what he said?" Taylitha asked, brows lifted.

  Alysha nodded. "People sometimes don't know what
they're capable of until under pressure to perform. People often resist change when change means hardship and toil, and yes, they're usually proud of themselves when they overcome those things. But I don't believe most people are as inherently irredeemable as Mister Beringwaite." She sighed and passed a wrist over her forehead, dragging aside the damp hair plastered there. "I'm not succeeding in my attempts to impress on him the things he's doing to alienate everyone, though."

  "You're being too gentle," Taylitha said.

  "Maybe," Alysha said. "But it's best to try the softest touch before you apply a hammer." She straightened, looked at her fingers and tapped them together. The fact that they stuck ever-so-slightly seemed to puzzle her. She said, "Did you just feed me?"

  Taylitha glanced at the fruit bar wrapper and mustered her most innocent look.

  Alysha laughed. "Thank you."

  "You forget to eat," Taylitha said, blushing.

  "Sometimes," Alysha said. "Still, there's work to do."

  Taylitha followed her as she walked back down the line, talking to everyone. She listened as Alysha coaxed them back onto their feet, encouraged them in their effort, recognized their strengths and offered deft and often covert advice on solving their problems, whether they involved their unfamiliarity with hiking or their flagging spirits. She was still talking to the Seersan man at the end of the line when Taylitha spotted Beringwaite. Casually she handed her canteen to Alysha and said, "He's back. I can share my experiences with cracked foot pads with Derin . . . maybe we'll figure something out together."

  "Thanks," Alysha said. Taylitha watched with glee as the other woman drank again, thoughtlessly, before heading back up the line.

  She felt like crowing, 'I know a secret! I know a secret!' but couldn't quite quantify what it was.

  For the next leg, Taylitha drifted in her own thoughts, barely noting the constant back-and-forth between Alysha and Beringwaite. She found her own anger with Beringwaite too difficult to reconcile with Alysha's suggestion that he'd been abused, and that discomfort discouraged her from listening. Though the rain had stopped, droplets of water still lined the new leaves, occasionally gathering to fall in plangent drops to the hard-packed ground. Following one of those droplets to the ground with her eyes, Taylitha spotted a gray-brown feather. She picked it up, intrigued, and ran a finger along its slim edge. A spot of iridescent green was its only decoration.

  She dropped down the line, showing it to the others. One of them carefully took it from her with bright, interested eyes: Cawdori, a short Karaka'An like Taylitha herself, but with stripes and spots on her golden fur. The other girl smiled and handed it back. "That's a nice find. Looks like some of the local birds are molting their secondaries."

  "Secondaries?" Taylitha asked.

  Cawdori nodded. "The flight feathers birds use to create and maintain lift. The primary feathers are longer and are responsible mainly for thrust, but the secondaries are often just as pretty, and very important to keeping the bird in the air. That's probably a female's, or an adolescent male's." The girl grinned. "Keep that one, arii—it's in great condition."

  "I think I will," Taylitha murmured.

  The rest of the walk she spent watching for signs of birds. One surprised out of the nearby brush imprinted itself against the back of her eyelids, black body on bright gray sky, primaries spread and secondaries trailing.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  They reached the canoe rental cabin early in the afternoon. The reception area in the cabin was an octagonal room paneled in golden wood; each wall had a separate framed photograph of happy people paddling down rivers, slicing through rapids, drifting in a placid lake. Taylitha wandered the circumference of the room until she found a brochure on canoe safety. She occupied herself with the sobering reading while Beringwaite presented himself to the single woman working behind the counter.

  "Are we the first group here?"

  The woman's voice sounded amused to Taylitha's one backward-canted ear. "Yes, indeed."

  "I'm in charge. Tell me what I need to know."

  Now she sounded curious. "Of course. If you'll come back the hallway on the other side of the counter—"

  "—not you, Forrest. You stay and get these lazy cubs outfitted for the trip."

  "Beringwaite—"

  "Someone has to do it, right? I'm going to go decide which way we're going."

  Taylitha turned from the pamphlet at this and surveyed the tableau at the counter. Alysha's ears had flattened completely and all her muscles were tense; Beringwaite looked obstinate. She couldn't quite catch the expression on his face, but she didn't like the importance he placed on talking alone to the woman in charge of the canoes. Why didn't that woman interrupt? But no, she was just watching, carefully impartial, letting the team work out its own solutions.

  "I would really appreciate having a part in this decision," Alysha said.

  "Well, we don't have the time, furry," Beringwaite said. Taylitha didn't miss the twitch of the woman—human—behind the counter. Nor did she miss Beringwaite's clever sneer as he delivered his final line: "Do you really want me in charge of outfitting and lecturing the team on safety measures?"

  Had he figured out how to manipulate Alysha? Taylitha hadn't figured him for that smart. And it was smart. She knew, as Alysha did, that there was no way Alysha would let him deal with the team's safety directly. Gathering herself, Alysha backed away, watching as Beringwaite walked into the corridor and behind the counter with an unbearably smug expression. Taylitha scowled.

  Alysha joined her a few moments after the two had vanished, her ears still flat against her head.

  "So he's getting the mission briefing alone?" Taylitha said, tail twitching. "I hope he doesn't have to make any decisions that might, well, affect us."

  "That's what I'm afraid of," Alysha said with a sigh. "Let's see if we can get everyone their required equipment."

  "I've got a list," Taylitha said.

  "A list? Already?"

  Taylitha waved the brochure at her. "Let's get going. At least if we're in charge of outfitting we'll be sure not to mess anything up."

  Between the two of them they found the lockers outside and distributed thermal bodysuits, life-vests, helmets, whistles and other assorted items. Some of the canoes bobbed on the nearby lake, tied to a post near the cabin; others had to be taken down from their racks and brought to the lake-side. Fortunately for them all, a safety 3deo was playing outside on a loop, giving them an opportunity to learn the basics of paddling . . . at least as an abstract. Taylitha watched as a pair of people danced through a series of rapids, then the image paused so the reel could demonstrate a combat roll, used to right a canoe when it went under. "Gods," she said hushed to Alysha, "I hope we're on gentler waters than that!"

  "Just remember to roll with the direction of the dunking," Alysha said with a chuckle.

  After the video, they dispatched the rest of the team to stow their equipment in their canoes. Taylitha began unpacking their bags.

  "What are you doing?" Alysha asked.

  "Spreading things around," Taylitha said. "Just in case." She frowned. "I wonder if I could get specialized rescue equipment."

  When Alysha said nothing, Taylitha glanced at her and found her wearing one of those still expressions that meant she was thinking something she didn't want to say aloud. It was strange how many of Alysha's expressions were a lack of them . . . and how nevertheless, they could all be different.

  "Just in case," Taylitha said. "You know. I don't anticipate having to rescue anyone. Particularly since I can't swim all that well . . . "

  "I'll go check to see if there's any," Alysha said. "Just in case." She walked back to the rental cabin, leaving Taylitha chewing her lower lip and trying not to fret. It was going to be an easy passage down the mountain . . . wasn't it? Fleet wasn't going to risk a boatload of untried ensigns on a whitewater, just like Johnigan had said. She stowed a few bandages into one of her life-vest pockets and finished her distribution of the
packs. Johnigan was right. Had to be right.

  She found the feather in one of her pack pockets, carefully held flat with a travel book she thought she'd have time to update. Try as she might, she couldn't think of a way to carry it on her without damaging it, so she left it in the pack. After stowing the gear, Taylitha moved on to a visual inspection of the canoe as recommended by the safety 3deo. She had no idea how to find some of the more subtle faults glossed over in the reel, but she could at least check for gross flaws, like huge cracks or gaping holes.

  Some time later, Taylitha paused in her examination of the oars to stretch, look up at the sky and breathe. The humidity remained unpleasant, but the size of the sky was still awe-inspiring with its ragged but beautiful clouds, pricked at the edges with the peaks of mountains. Beringwaite's absence was refreshing, and when she looked down the curve of the lake and saw Alysha in earnest conversation with one of the other pairs, she felt sudden pride and contentment at being part of a team. A worthwhile team.

  Alysha rejoined her a few minutes later and handed her a small package. "Your rescue kit."

  Taylitha opened it and examined its contents. A narrow spool of permasilk rope, just thick enough to do the job. An air gun with the rope already threaded through it. Patches for bodies and canoes, pills, a blanket folded thinner than a pancake. "Great! Did you get one for everyone?"

  Alysha nodded. "Though it didn't comfort them as much as it comforts you, I think."

  Taylitha grinned and slid the package into the front of her life-vest, sealing the pocket. "Being prepared will win half the battles."

  Just as she was relaxing, Beringwaite strode out of the cabin. "All right, fuzzies, let's get on the lake! Time is wasting!"

  "We're the first ones here, aren't we? What's the rush?" Taylitha asked before she could censor herself.

  "The rush is that we need to be the first ones down. Now put in!"

  Taylitha eyed the wobbling canoe with a grimace, then stepped into it and strapped her thighs down. She took up her paddle and looked at Alysha's back. "I already don't like this."