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The warrior woman’s face was clenched in pain.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Landed on my bad leg,” she gritted. “Gods cursed me for calling out the name of Hell.”
“I doubt it,” he chuckled, giving her his arm, and hoisting her back to her feet.
“They’re running,” Avril yelled from the top of the cargo. “Gutless bastards. You alive, sister?”
“Banged up, but fine,” Lyslee yelled back.
“Long as you don’t have another scar,” Avril yelled. “Glory-greedy wench.”
Lyslee actually grinned and shook her head.
“Sibling rivalry make you feel better?” he asked.
“Until I remembered that I’ve got to get an arrow out of Alloo’s shoulder,” Lyslee hissed. “Assuming he didn’t run. He’s a big baby.”
But Kian could already see the bear hadn’t run.
While the sheriff and deputy were getting the dogs out of the pit, and Cloud-on-the-Mountain was offering Avril a hand down from the cargo, Kinsley was busy with a project of her own.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” he asked as he approached.
“Sweet cosmic dust,” Lyslee crowed. “Your girl is too much.”
Kinsley looked up from her task and smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
“Is that our entire sugar ration?” Kian asked her.
“A few sugar lumps felt like a small price to pay to keep him from running off,” Kinsley said. “I could see he was in pain and scared. But I promised you I wouldn’t do anything crazy with the baby again, so I couldn’t try getting the arrow out of him. This was all I could think of.”
“You’ll think about it again, after six months without sugar in your coffee,” he grumbled. But he couldn’t help being inordinately proud of his clever mate.
“Not likely, soldier,” Lyslee scoffed. “You think I’m not going to share my sugar ration with her after she saved my Alloo? I raised this sweet boy from a cub.”
The bear ignored all of them and waited for Kinsley to toss him another sugar cube, his eyes fixed on her as if he was ready to do all her bidding.
“Keep going, sweetheart,” Lyslee called to her. “I’m going to have a look at the arrow.”
Kian stifled his urge to help her and instead watched as Lyslee hobbled over and searched the monster’s thick pelt with her hands.
“It’s just caught up in his skin, didn’t reach the muscle,” Lyslee said to herself. “Kinsley, I’m going to try to get it out. Keep his attention, if you can.”
“Does he like singing?” Kinsley called to her.
“Bears don’t really like noise,” Lyslee yelled back.
Kinsley frowned, then smiled.
As Kian watched, she began moving her arms around in a wavy pattern, showing the big bear a lump of sugar in her palm before closing it and waving her hands again.
She opened her palm.
No sugar.
The bear leaned his head forward, puzzled.
