"Dougal does nothing but talk about you," said Drisco as the small carriage clattered down the road towards the edge of town. "Ever since he met you that day on the road."

     "Does he?" said Tala. She suddenly regretted not going to see him more than she had after he'd broken his arm. She'd done everything she could to make him forget about her and now she had to be glad that she'd failed. "I've been so busy," she said. "Having to do everything for myself takes a lot of time. Took a lot of time."

     Drisco gathered the reins into one hand, freeing the other to reach over to pat the back of Tala's hand. "You'll find things are a lot different when you're a family of farmers," he said. "We can share the work, and there's a lot of time left over. Another pair of hands will be even better, and you already know how to grow your own food."

     "On a small scale," Tala replied. "Just carrots and onions really."

     "But enough to last you a whole year," said Drisco, looking across at her. "That's a whole different barrel of ale from some little herb garden. You have to till the earth at the end of the year, right? You have to weed and irrigate. Know how to deal with pests and diseases. That's a lot of work. You need to have a strong back and be ready to get your hands dirty. You're ready made to be a farmer's wife."

     "Sounds like you're ready to marry us already."

     "If you don't choose him it'll be some other young lad, and Dougal said he saw the way you were looking at his bare chest."

     Tala flushed crimson with embarrassment. "I were looking for bruises, injuries..."

     Drisco laughed. "Aye, lass. Course you were." He suddenly grew more serious, though, and turned to look at her again. "Seriously, though. Could you see yourself marrying him? Maybe you've already set your cap on some other young man."

     "No, there's no other young man. And yes, I can see myself marrying him, unless he finds another young lady he likes better."

     Drisco laughed. Laughter came easily to him, it seemed, and it made Tala warm to him. These were good people. She was lucky to have found them, but she would have to be so, so careful or she could end up being nothing but a curse to them.

     "Nay, lass," said Drisco. "He's set his cap on you alright. He'd already made up his mind to ask you to the dance again. He's not the kind to take just one no for an answer."

     A starling landed on the rump of the horse pulling the cart. <Mother!> it cried joyfully. <Your nest has gone. We thought a monster had gotten you.>

     <I can't talk to you,> Tala replied. <I'm sorry, but I can't talk to you ever again.>

     The starling stared in confusion. <Why not? Are you angry with us?>

     <No, of course not.>

     <Did we do something wrong? We keep eating the seed you put in the ground. Is that what we did wrong?>

     "Look at that bird!" said Drisco in amusement. "Looks like it's trying to talk to you."

     Tala felt a spike of fear. <No, you've done nothing wrong,> she told the starling. She tried to think of an explanation the bird would understand. <There's a monster hunting me...>

     <Monster!> cried the bird in alarm. It's tiny head turned this way and that, trying to look in all directions at once. <Monster!>

     <Yes, and If it hears us talking it'll find me. I have to hide.>

     <But you're the one who keeps the monsters away. The monsters do as you say.>

     <If a monster hunts you, we'll protect you,> said another starling from the branches of a tree they were passing under.

     <Yes, we'll protect you!>

     Suddenly the trees were alive with the voices of starlings, all declaring their determination that no monster would harm Tala. They erupted into the air and the sky was filled with a large murmuration that wheeled and spun above the wagon like some huge, vengeful creature.

     "Will you look at that!" said Drisco in amazement. "You don't normally see that until much later in the evening. What's up with them? You okay, lass? You've gone white as a sheet."

     "I'm fine," Tala replied, struggling to keep her voice steady. <You can't protect me from this monster,> she told the starlings. <It's a human, like me. It hunts people who can talk to birds like you.>

      <The other mother?> asked the starling still sitting on the horse's rump.

     <Another mother?>

     <Another human, like you. She talks to us. She asks us where you are.>

      The Crone! She should have expected this. She'd failed to find her on her own so now she was recruiting the local wildlife into the hunt. <You mustn't tell her where I am,> she told the starlings, raising her voice so she could be heard by the whole flock. <Please, you mustn't tell her.>

     <But she's nice,> the starling protested. <She says she loves us. She says she wants to be our friend, like you.>

     <Did you tell her about me?>

     <Yes, we told her where your nest was. The nest that's not there anymore.>

     <Please don't tell her where my new nest is. If she asks you, just say you don't know. Say I've gone a long way away. Will you do that please?>

     There was a long pause as the birds talked among themselves. The murmuration swirled above them as if agitated and Drisco stared in amazement. "Never seen them do that before," he said. "Wonder what's got into them."

     <We want to be friends with the new human,> the starling replied, shifting its position on the horse's rump. <Why can't we be friends with her?>

     <You can be friends with her,> Tala replied, knowing it was useless to try to insist otherwise. Some birds, such as crows and magpies, had the intellectual capacity to understand the intricacies of human relationships, but starlings weren't among them. They wouldn't understand why they, Tala, and the Crone couldn't all be friends together. Secrecy was the most she could expect from them, and even that would be hard for them to understand.

     <You can be friends with her if you like,> she repeated. <Just don't tell her where I am.> Inspiration came to her as if by divine inspiration. <I'm playing a game with her,> she said. <I'm hiding and she's trying to find me. Understand?>

     <A game!> cried the starling in delight. <We love games! We won't tell her where you are. It'll take her a long, long time to find you.>

     "It looks almost like it's talking to you," said Drisco, staring at the bird in front of him. "Wait until I tell Sarah."

     "It's probably hoping we've got food," Tala replied. "I used to feed them back home. They associate me with food."

     "That must be it," Drisco replied. He leaned forward to speak to the bird. "We haven't got any food for you, you stupid bird."

     <That's why I can't talk to you say more,> Tala told the starling. <The other human might overhear. I want to win the game. You understand?>

     <Yes! We'll help you win the game. It'll be fun! Such fun!>

     The starling jumped into the air, taking flight, and joined the murmuration above them. The birds continued to wheel and spin above them but then they gradually dispersed, flying off in twos and threes until the sky was clear above them. Tala breathed a sigh of relief, but groaned inwardly at the knowledge that she'd have to repeat the conversation with every species she was friends with. Different species could speak to her but not with each other and she was pretty sure that every species thought they were the only ones she could speak to.

     They would all help to keep her hidden from the Crone. She was almost certain of it. Except... What about Black Tooth? The wolf hated her, she knew. He would like nothing better than to betray her to her enemy. Torn Ear's authority might keep him in line, but he might still find a way to tell the Crone what he knew without the rest of the pack being aware of it. What could she do about that?

     Maybe Drisco's farm was outside the wolves territory, she thought with rising hope. Wolf packs had a range of between several dozen and several hundred square miles, she knew, and Drisco's farm was about ten miles from where her cottage had been. It was unlikely they were both within the territory of the same wolf pack. So long as she took care not to speak to the wolves that did claim the farm as part of its territory, therefore, she should be safe. And birds almost all had smaller ranges. Apart from the starlings, all the birds in the vicinity of Drisco's farm would be birds that didn't know her. All she had to do was keep them from finding out she was the one the Crone was hunting.

     She began to breathe more easily as she reassured herself that she would be safe. Even asking the starlings to keep her secret had probably been unnecessary. Then her breath caught in her throat, though, when she remembered that they'd told the Crone where her cottage had been. What if she came to Ellford in person, asked people who had lived in the burned down cottage and where she could be found now? Well meaning townspeople could point her directly to Drisco's farm.

     But what if she did? Tala thought. She wasn't living alone any more. She would have a family to protect her now. Just by living with other people, much of the threat the Crone had represented no longer existed. Let her come to the farm, she thought. Tala would tell Drisco and the others that she was an abusive aunt who wanted her as a slave to do all her housework. Drisco would send her away with a flea in her ear, and if the Crone tried to use the animals against them she would be revealing herself to be a witch. The King's men would take care of her.

     She imagined the Crone, the nightmare figure she'd been so afraid of for so long, being locked in the stocks by the Knights of Vell and being stoned to death. Tala might throw a rock or two herself. And then, when she was dead, Tala could settle down to a new life as a farmer's wife, raising crops and children. Surrounded by relatives she could chat with. Not just negotiating prices with merchants or teaching children, but actual gossip. Small talk whose only purpose was to form emotional bonds and relationships. Since her mother died, she'd almost forgotten what that kind of conversation was like. The conversation she was having with Drisco now, on the wagon as they travelled to the farm, was the most she'd spoken to another adult for years, and she liked it. She was looking forward to doing more of it. A lot more. Just talking until her tongue fell out.

     "You look happy," said Drisco, smiling through his beard as he looked across at her.

     "I am happy," Tala replied. "The sun us shining. The sky is blue. When my cottage burned down I thought my life was over, but suddenly everything is looking a whole lot brighter."

     "Good, good," said Drisco, smiling at her again. "You'll love our family. You'll fit right in, I know it."

     "I'm sure I will."

     "Well, let's get home then so you can meet the others."

     He gave the reins a slap and the horse broke into a canter. <Alright, alright,> it said, tossing its head irritably. <What's the hurry? We'll get there in good time.>

     Tala grinned but made no reply. Talking to animals was part of her past now. She would never do it again.