Part 3, Chapter 16

Chapter 16. Round 5: Roup

Storm stayed in the cave all day, dozing fitfully, and lapping up water from the trickle that ran down the cliff. He watched the herd ebb and flow through the boulders below him and bits of the plain beyond. He wasn’t in a good spot to see the stream where he’d sent Sauny and Valla to meet with Kelsy. He wondered what they would say to each other and what they must think. He half hoped someone would come looking for him. Sauny, at least, could have navigated this trail to reach the cave. However, it would require a phenomenal tracker to follow him by scent alone.

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Part 3, Chapter 15

Chapter 15. Questions in the Dark

Valla slept beside Storm that night and for many nights after. Every day, he told himself that he should make her leave. And every day, he never quite got around to it. In appearance, Valla was as different from Tollee as any ferryshaft could be. She was a creamy buff color, and her fur was longer than average. It feathered prettily around her legs, and it had a silky sheen. Her ears were small and perfect—not a single nick or ragged edge. Her muzzle was un-scarred, her teeth unbroken. Valla was not the sort of female who fought with males. She was the sort of female who males fought over.

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Chapter 14

Chapter 14. Fighting an Idea

“He dumped you in the river?” Roup looked like he was trying very hard to be serious, and that made it worse.

Halvery snarled at his old rival. He could take wounds without a whimper, but to appear foolish was intolerable. Sharmel turned away to smother his own chuckles.

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Chapters 12 and 13

Chapter 12. Round 4: Halvery

That afternoon, Storm lay sunning himself in his clique’s favored resting place, trying to banish the last of the river’s cold from his bones. He’d told his story twice—once to his friends and once to his sister. Sauny had met him on the edge of ferryshaft feeding grounds. She’d listened to every detail with absolute attention. When he talked about the river, she grinned. “I bet I wouldn’t have broken through. I’m even lighter than you, Storm!”

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Chapter 11

Chapter 11. The River and the Trees

Storm tried to stretch, but his situation in the tree made any movement awkward. They still haven’t figured it out.

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Chapters 9 and 10

Chapter 9. A Strange Tunnel Kelsy took a certain interest in Storm’s search for new escape routes. “You really shouldn’t limit yourself to the boulder mazes and the sheep trails,” he said one evening, during his customary visit. “The woods at the top of the cliffs can provide good cover, and the sea cliffs have trails, too.”

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Chapters 7 and 8

Chapter 7. Threats and Apologies

It was as mild a winter as the island had seen in a decade. At no point did the snow entirely cover the ground, and the tougher sort of bushes and grasses continued to peak through. Animals that were normally dormant came out of hiding. Rabbits and rock rats thrived, and so did the ferryshaft herd.

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Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5. Round 2: Treace

When Storm opened his eyes again, it was midmorning—bright and cold and clear. He started to stand up, thought better of it, and lay back down. He didn’t think he’d actually climbed very high last night. His whole body ached, and he head was pounding. He licked up the snow around him on the ground.

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Chapter 4

Chapter 4. Trapped

Storm had a suspicion that hiding in a cave from creasia would not be as effective as hiding in a cave from ferryshaft. He was right. The creasia were more patient.

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Chapters 2 and 3

Chapter 2. Repercussions

Storm felt a consuming elation as he bounded over the sheep trail. He could hardly believe that he’d gotten away with it. At last, he reached the isolated cave where he had so often left rabbits to freeze on the stone floor. He whirled in the cave’s mouth, panting, legs beginning to quiver. He half expected a creasia to charge in after him, but he heard nothing except his own labored breath. At last, he crept to the entrance and looked back the way he’d come.

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Part 3 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Daydreams and Nightmares

He walked in blackness. How long he’d been there, he could not say. Occasionally, he distinguished the silhouettes of rocks or faint light reflecting off pools of water. He stayed well away from the water. Sometimes he heard things—rustling, the rattle of pebbles, a soft sigh like fur over stone.

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Chapters 21 and 22

Chapter 21. The Rules

As fall drew to a close, Storm found himself in a state of unexpected hostility with his mother and Dover over Sauny’s education. She had progressed wonderfully that summer—learning to swim and fish and identify edible plants. She could play sholo as well as any yearling, and she’d acquired a group of well-placed friends, all foals with two parents and good social standing in the herd.

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Chapters 19 and 20

Chapter 19. Ambition

Collaris’s new ru was called Valla—a dainty, cream-colored foal, small for her age, and timid. By the time the river froze, the clique had added another new clique member—a big yearling male named Tarsis—orphaned in the first creasia raid. The clique actually turned away another, smaller male, who tried to join about the same time. Mylo thinks he can afford to be picky, thought Storm.

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Chapter 18

Chapter 18. A Line in Stone

In his dream, he saw her running—that foal who had not yet seen the end of her first winter…and never would. The creasia pursued her, muscles bunching and stretching beneath sleek, dark fur. As Storm watched, the foal spun on the ice to confront her pursuer. Storm saw her face—Tollee’s face.

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Chapter 17

Chapter 17. A Thousand Faces

Storm saw no more curbs that summer, nor did he travel to groth again. He did not tell Leep and Tracer about his experience, nor, he suspected, did Tollee tell Mylo and Callaris. However, he did speak more frequently to Tollee. As the summer wound down, they developed a genuine friendship.

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