Soft Rain Read Online Free PDF Page A

their bread.
    “I didn’t find Old Roving Man. Where can he be?” Soft Rain asked.
    “He would not want to be in a pen,” Mother answered. “I saw him walk away the night before we arrived here.”
    “Why didn’t you try to stop him?” Soft Rain asked.
    “It would have been useless.”
    “Where would he go?”
    “Maybe back home; maybe …” Mother did not finish her thought.
    Did her mother mean maybe he would
not
get home? Tears blurred Soft Rain’s eyes when she pictured Old Roving Man alone, struggling to return home. Then she remembered the Little People. If they found him, he would be safe. She wiped away her tears.
Maybe he is with them
, she thought,
telling stories
.
    When two soldiers pulled the gate open, people began rushing toward it. Their voices became hushed. Soft Rain watched as more Tsalagi were pushed inside. She looked at each new person, expecting to see Father and Hawk Boy. But only strangers appeared. They were soon crowded even closer together to make room for the new people.
    The moaning inside the pen resumed. And over those sounds, coming from outside the pen, SoftRain heard a loud tapping noise and shouts of soldiers. “Not here, over there! Watch what you’re doing!”
    Soft Rain peered through a crack. She saw soldiers carrying logs.
Are they building another pen?
she wondered.
How many more Real People are coming here?
    Late in the day another group of Tsalagi arrived. She stood watching them until the gate closed. She did not see a single familiar face.

THE COUGHING DISEASE
    S oft Rain kept Pet’s rope tied tightly around her waist. She knew that Father and Hawk Boy would bring Pet with them. Would they also bring her doll? Every day she searched among the new arrivals for her father and young brother. She knew her mother was also looking for them. Mother still kept Father’s tobacco pouch inside her dress, moving it carefully into her pack each night to keep it safe and dry.
    Through the cracks Soft Rain watched the soldiers finish the second pen. After they put the gate in place, they shouted, “Hooray,” and slapped each other on the back.
What a strange custom it is to show happiness by hitting someone
, she thought.
    Then she saw Big Boots again—the first timesince they had arrived. More Real People were with him. He motioned to the soldiers who were hitting each other to open the gate they had just closed. A wagon full of people pulled up to it. Soft Rain saw only women and children herded out of the wagon and into the new pen.
    When she turned around, Big Boots was standing near her. “Lone women with children, pack up your belongings. You’re being moved,” he shouted. When no one responded, he grabbed Soft Rain’s arm. “You understand me. Tell them they must move,” he snarled.
    Mother quickly ran to Soft Rain, pulling her away from Big Boots. “We will tell them
our
way,” she said slowly.
    “See that you do … and hurry.” His face was red.
    Soft Rain looked at the finger marks Big Boots had left on her arm. She tried to rub them away.
    She and Mother walked among the people, explaining to the women with no men what Big Boots had said. Soft Rain knew that some of them understood his language, just as Mother did, though they would never let him know.
    “Where are we moving?” they all asked.
    “I don’t know. It’s best not to ask too manyquestions,” Mother answered. “Everyone must do as the soldiers say.”
    When all the women stood in line with their belongings, Big Boots yelled, “Open the gate! Follow me, you women.”
    He started toward the new pen. On the way, Soft Rain stopped to gaze at the river. She saw the soldier with the silver buckle staring at her.
    “Move along,” Big Boots shouted, pushing her. She stumbled, falling against him. His smell—a more putrid stink than she had ever known—made her grunt.
Why doesn’t he wash in the river?
She turned away quickly.
    At the gate a soldier handed Mother a bucket. “You know