Dragon's Egg by Sarah L. Thomson Page B

anything—berries or something. Or maybe an easier way north.”
    It was absolutely no use trying to pick a fight with Roger. He was so nice, it made Mella grindher teeth. If she hadn’t seen him stand up to Alain, she wouldn’t think he had any backbone at all.
    The river flowed by, quick and cold, chalky white with rock dust washed down from the slopes of the mountain. Faintly, over the rush and roar of the swiftly moving water, Mella realized that she could hear something. Someone shouting.
    Twisting around, Mella saw Roger on top of a small, stony outcrop that rose up over the river. He was jumping up and down, waving his arms. But he wasn’t looking at Mella. He had his back to the river and to her. As she watched, he suddenly disappeared over the far edge of the rise and was gone from her sight.
    What on earth? Limping a little on her sore ankle, Mella clambered up the slope after him. Had he gone mad? If he thought she was going to chase him all over the mountain…
    When she got to the top of the outcrop and looked down, she thought at first glance that her fears had been true. Roger had gone mad. There hestood, in a valley below her, talking eagerly and gesturing to…nothing at all.
    Then Mella blinked and saw more clearly. There was a man standing opposite Roger. She had not seen him at first because his sheepskin clothing, his weather-beaten skin, and his dull brown hair blended so perfectly into a background of tree trunks and dry leaves. And because he stood so still. He was like a tree himself, unmoving, as if rooted deep.
    Roger saw Mella and waved at her to join them.
    â€œA night’s lodging?” Roger was saying as Mella arrived, having slid and scrambled her way down to them. “We can pay for beds and for food if you’ve any to spare.”
    Oh, yes! Mella could have cried with joy at the idea of sleeping dry and warm for one night, even if it was on nothing better than a blanket in front of a hearth. And food !
    The man’s face didn’t change. Two dogs sat at his feet, one black with four white feet, the other white with a black splotch over one ear. They bothcocked their heads, as if they were also giving thought to Roger’s words. There was a long, considering pause before the shepherd spoke.
    â€œAnd what are you doing here, two children, and all alone in the wilderness?”
    â€œThat’s our business,” Mella said. Roger jabbed her in the ribs with his elbow, but Mella could feel the weight of the Egg in her sack and she remembered the cold despair she had felt seeing it in Alain’s hands. They couldn’t reveal the purpose of their journey to every stranger they met.
    â€œWe’re just travelers,” Roger said, frowning at Mella. “But we can pay well for a bed tonight.”
    The man let several moments go by as he thought, and then he shook his head.
    Mella couldn’t believe it. “Why not?” she demanded. Couldn’t the man see that they needed rest?
    â€œI cannot take strangers in if I know so little of their errand. If you have an honest reason for wandering about the hills, you’d best tell it to me.” His voice was like the roots of the trees, gnarled and knotted, somehow deep and dark brown and strong.
    â€œ You’re wandering about the hills,” Mella pointed out tartly. “Do you have an honest reason for it?”
    Roger made a horrible face at her, but Mella saw a corner of the man’s mouth twitch. “I am searching for a lamb. Eagle killed a ewe and took one of the babies back to its nest for the chicks.”
    â€œAn emperor eagle?” Roger asked. Now it was Mella’s turn to make a face at him. What on earth did it matter?
    The man nodded.
    â€œI saw one flying over a few minutes ago,” Roger said, and pointed. “It had something in its claws, and it landed in a dead pine.”
    Mella was amazed. She had not noticed anything flying overhead, and