He headed for the crumbling back wall.
Jon-Tom eyed the bow uncertainly. “Mudge, I’m not
good at this.”
“Just give a shout if they come at us again. It ain’t ‘ard,
mate. Just shove an arrow through the window there. They
don’t know you can’t shoot.” He bent, crawled under a
lopsided stone and disappeared.
Jon-Tom awkwardly notched an arrow, rested it on the
window sill as Roseroar took up a position behind the one
the otter had vacated.
“Ah don’t understand,” she murmured, squinting at the
forest. “We all ain’t worth the trouble we’re causin’ this
Hathcar. That ottah brought down five or six o’ them. If ah
was this fella ah’d give up and go in search of less deadly
prey.”
“That would be the reasonable thing to do,” said
Drom, nodding, “except that as chief he has lost face
already before his band. He will not give up, though if he
THE DAY OF THE DISSONANCE
233
suffers many more losses his own fighters may force him
to quit.” The unicorn climbed to his feet and strolled over
to Roseroar’s window. She made room for him.
“Hathcar!” he shouted.
A reluctant voice finally replied. “Who calls? Is that
you, meddler with a spike in his brain?”
“It is I.” Drom was unperturbed by the bandit leader’s
tone. “Listen to me! These travelers are poor. They have
no money.”
Cuscus laughter rang through the trees. “You expect me
to believe that?”
“It’s true. In any case, you cannot defeat them.”
“Don’t bet on that.”
“You cannot break in here.”
“Maybe not, but we’ll force you out. It may take time,
but we’ll do it.”
“If you do, then I will only lead them to another place