Earthseed Read Online Free PDF Page B

stubby legs; her head came to Zoheret’s shoulder. They passed Jennifer, who walked with a slight lurch; Jennifer, like Anoki, was one of Ship’s accidents.
    Zoheret slowed down. “Are we going too fast?”
    Jennifer shook her head; her chestnut curls bobbed. “I can keep up.” She spoke in her peculiar, slurred, halting speech, as if every word were an effort; her arms flapped against her sides.
    When they reached the trees, Manuel stopped and removed a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. The others crowded around him as he unfolded it. “I’ve got our route marked,” Manuel said. “We should be able to get to the lake by tonight—we can refill our canteens there. But we’ll have to keep moving. No stopping to rest, except for lunch.”
    Annie said, “You have a map.”
    “I made some notes. I sketched a route.”
    “Ship said we couldn’t bring maps.”
    “Oh, shut up,” Jorge muttered; his chubby face was petulant.
    “You cheated,” Annie said. “We’ll be disqualified.”
    Manuel grinned. “Ship said no maps. It didn’t say no notes, and it didn’t say we couldn’t bring sketches. I know, because I asked. If the other teams were too stupid to ask, that’s their problem.”
    “It’s not a sketch,” Annie replied. “It’s a map. You copied everything. I know it didn’t want us to do that.”
    “Ship’s not going to know,” Manuel said slowly, “because no one’s going to tell it. I’ll get rid of it before we come out. And if you say anything, I might get mad. You understand.”
    Manuel turned and they followed him into the woods. “It doesn’t matter,” Zoheret whispered to Annie as they walked, stirring the dead twigs and pine needles with their feet. “We all studied the maps so much we practically have them memorized anyway, so that map of Manuel’s won’t make any difference.”
    “He copied everything. I wish I knew how he pocketed it without Ship finding out.” Annie scowled. “Don’t worry. I know enough to keep my mouth shut.”
    It was cooler under the trees; the air was still. Zoheret wondered what the trees were hiding, and wished the team had skirted the forest, but that would have taken too long. Manuel was speaking to Dmitri; the muscular boy shook back his long, brown hair and moved ahead of Manuel. Zoheret resented the way Manuel had taken command of the team. No one had stood up to him, or questioned his authority. Ahead of her, Gervais churned through the underbrush on skinny legs. Zoheret would have trusted Gervais to lead, but the intense, solemn boy had contented himself with making suggestions. Maybe he had been wise. Manuel had listened to him, and Gervais had avoided the sort of confrontation that would have had the team taking sides.
    Manuel might be disliked, but he would help them win, and that was more important. He knew the Hollow as well as anyone, except possibly Ho, because the two had always been sneaking off to the Hollow, even against Ship’s wishes. She walked more quickly, not wanting to be left behind.

    The team stood on a hill, looking down. A clearing lay before them. They had made it this far seeing no more than squirrels, a few birds, and a deer that had disappeared quickly among the trees. But now their way was blocked. A bear and her cub were in the clearing.
    They were downwind of the animals, and the creatures had not noticed them yet. Manuel whispered to Dmitri.
    “No,” Gervais said in a low voice, moving closer to Manuel. “It’s too dangerous.”
    “We’ve got stun guns,” Manuel said. “I think we should shoot. We’d have plenty of time to get across before they revive.”
    “No,” Zoheret said. She forced herself to look directly at Manuel. “It’s too dangerous. That’s a mother with her cub. She’ll attack if she feels it’s threatened. We might miss.”
    “Not if enough of us shoot.”
    “But you could hurt them.” One or two shots, she knew, would stun the animals into unconsciousness, but several