Pietro smiled as Jayla strolled up to the table. “That was impressive,” he said. “I can’t imagine we’ll have any trouble at all tomorrow if you just stand around looking murderous.”
Cody pushed his curls off his forehead. He’d been hauling heavy burdens all day; she figured he had to be tired, though his eyes still showed a roving curiosity. “Unless those louts go looking for Jayla in the middle of the night.”
She shrugged. “I read them as opportunists, not criminals,” she said. “Didn’t seem like they really wanted trouble—they just wanted whatever they could get.”
“Still,” said Pietro. “It might behoove you to bed down near friends tonight. Are you traveling with anyone?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You could share a campfire with me,” Pietro offered.
“And me,” Cody chimed in. When the other two glanced at him, he added, “I hadn’t planned to spend the night, but I’m not crossing the canyon in the dark.”
Jayla grinned at him. “And here I thought you were a brave man.”
He laughed. “I’ve run the cables at night,” he admitted. “But there’s not as far to fall.”
“I saved a loaf of bread and a bag of fruit,” Pietro said. “I was assuming the three of us would share after our labors were over.” He rested his gaze on Jayla’s face. “And I would reiterate the thought that you’d be better off tonight with friends at your back.”
She wasn’t worried about the disgruntled merchants—not really—and she didn’t think that either Pietro or Cody would show to advantage in any kind of combat situation. But if she was wrong and the traders came looking for her, they might think twice if they found her with defenders nearby.
“It’s a kind offer, so I’ll accept,” she said.
“And I’m starving,” Cody added. “Let’s eat now.”
Chapter Three:
Jayla
It was another fifteen minutes before they’d gathered Jayla’s sparse belongings and arrayed them near Pietro’s campsite. Cody built a small fire and they parceled out supplies. The dried meat was surprisingly tasty and the bread was delicious, or else Jayla was hungrier than she’d realized.
“So did any news come across the canyon with the supplies?” Jayla asked. “How long will it be before the bridge is rebuilt?”
Cody spoke around a mouthful of food. “I heard they might not repair it right now,” he said. “They might put a temporary bridge across the fissure instead.”
“The fissure?” she repeated.
Pietro waved toward something invisible in the gathering dark. “The crevasse on the southern edge of our campsite here.”
“A lot narrower than the canyon,” Cody said. “If people can cross that, it’ll just take them a couple of hours to travel to one of the Maratan bridges.” He leaned back on his elbows, too far for the firelight to reach his face. “So I know Jayla’s coming to the city to find work as a soldier. What brings you here, Pietro? Unless you don’t feel like telling.”
“I lived here for a long time. I left for ten years. I missed it, so I’m coming back.”
It was an answer that left out more than it included, but since that was obviously deliberate, Jayla was careful about posing the next question. “Do you plan to take up your old life or look for something new?”
“I don’t think my old life is open to me,” he said, and then shrugged. “I may find that I don’t want to stay more than a week or two. I might be crossing back over the chasm before the dust even settles on my shoes.”
Cody lifted a lazy hand to gesture in Pietro’s direction. “Sojourner.”
Pietro touched the twisted silver bracelet on his wrist. “Precisely.”
Jayla jerked her head back, her attention caught by a sound beyond the circle of firelight. All around them, other travelers talked and rattled pans around their own campfires, but this noise was different. Closer. Hesitant. Stealthy?
“Who’s out there?” she called. Cody rolled to a sitting position, and Pietro casually dropped his hand to his ankle. She wondered if he carried a concealed dagger.
There was another soft footfall and then a small shape moved out of the darkness. It was the little ginger-haired girl who had showed up earlier at the makeshift infirmary. She looked even more ragged and forlorn than she had this morning, her hair unkempt and her face smeared with dirt. She held her bandaged hand carefully against her heart and glanced at each one of them in turn, saying nothing.
“Aussen?” Pietro said in his gentle voice. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”
She immediately fixed her eyes on him. “Pietro,” she replied.
“That’s right. Let me introduce you to Jayla and Cody.” They all nodded gravely to each other, then Pietro asked, “Are you lost, Aussen?”
“Where are your friends? The women who are watching out for you?” Jayla demanded. The girl just looked at her and didn’t answer.
“I don’t think she understands Cordish,” Pietro murmured. “Or at least not well enough to speak it.”
“Who is she?” Cody wanted to know. “She looks Zessin.”
“That was my thought as well,” Pietro said.
“She was with two women this morning, but they said they barely knew her. They’d started caring for her when the woman she was traveling with died,” Jayla explained.
“So she’s all alone?” Cody said.
Pietro held up a piece of bread. “Have you eaten? Are you hungry?”
She came deeper into the firelight, her eyes still on Pietro. She didn’t answer, but when he leaned closer to offer her the bread, she took it from his hands and quickly stuffed it in her mouth.
“Hungry,” Jayla said. “Probably thirsty. Where are the women looking out for her?”
Pietro was busy making up a plate of food for Aussen and pouring water into a cracked mug. The girl sat beside him and immediately began eating. “They might not even have noticed that she’s wandered off,” he said.
“They might be glad she did,” Jayla said darkly.
“You don’t know how heavy their other responsibilities are,” Pietro replied. “She might be one more burden than they can bear.”
She spared a moment to wonder what kind of life led a man to develop that level of compassion, then pushed herself to a standing position. “I could go look for them.”
“You could,” he said. “Or you could see what morning brings.”
“I don’t think that—”
The earth shook beneath her feet, and Jayla tumbled down with a cry. The ground bucked again and she flattened herself against it, arms outstretched and fingers digging into the dirt, trying to anchor herself in place. Pietro grabbed Aussen and cradled her against his chest as if to shield her body from falling boulders. Cody had come to his hands and knees, looking like he was ready to jump up and run, or plaster himself to the ground, whenever he could figure out which option was safest. All around them they could hear the shouts of their fellow travelers trying to ride out the newest tremor.