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CHAPTER ONE

Friendships

Anne PULLED A COMB through her salt-knotted hair and watched the gulls on the strand fight over the scraps of fish and more dubious once-living things. The birds weren't the only scavengers; twenty or thirty people'mostly children'were also searching the sand for treasure from the waves.

Farther down the shore, the battered hulk of the Delia Puchia was dry-docked in scaffolding, and beyond that lay the huddle of whitewashed cottages that was the Gallean village of Duvre.

It was hard to remember any particulars about the storm. The bells of vicious thunder, snapping spars, and plunging waves all blurred together into a single long terror. It had left them adrift and sinking with only a single makeshift sail and the good fortune to be within sight of shore. They had followed the coast for nearly a day before finding the fishing village and the anchorage it offered.

A cold wind was coming off the sea, but the clouds were gone. The only remaining signs of the storm were its wreckage.

The comb snagged, and she yanked at her hair in frustration, wishing for a bath, but the village didn't have an inn, as such, just a small tavern. Besides, their money was all but gone. Cazio had the last of it and was trying to buy horses and supplies. Captain Malconio

had figured it would be a week before the ship was ready to sail again, and she had no intention of waiting that long.

According to its inhabitants'at least as best as any of Malconio's men could understand them'Duvre was about ten leagues south of Paldh. They had planned to go by land to Eslen anyway, so they had decided that they might as well get started.

With a sigh, she rose and started back toward the village, to make sure Cazio was doing what he was supposed to be doing, and not playing nip with Austra someplace. The brief solitude had been nice, but it was time to get going.

She found him in the tavern, of course, along with z'Acatto, Malco-nio, Austra, and a crowd of locals. It was close and smoky inside and smelled overwhelmingly of the dried cod that hung everywhere from the rafters. The two long tables were pitted and polished by use, and the floor'like the walls'was built of a sort of plaster made of

ground-up seashells.

Malconio was speaking'something about the wonders of a city named Shavan'and a wizened little man with no more than three or four teeth was making a running translation in Gallean. Children in red and umber tunics of rough wool and women with their hair wrapped up in black cotton scarves all leaned in, laughing sometimes and commenting among themselves. They glanced at her when she entered, but quickly returned their attention to Malconio.

Anne put her hands on her hips and tried to catch Cazio's eye, but he either hadn't seen her or was ignoring her in favor of Austra, who'with him'was quaffing wine from a ceramic jug. Z'Acatto was slumped with his head on the table. Impatiently, Anne pushed through the crowd and got Cazio's attention by patting his shoulder.

'Yes, casnara?' he asked, looking up at her. Austra turned her head away, feigning interest in Malconio's story, which just rolled right along.

'I thought you were buying supplies and horses.' Cazio nodded. 'That's exactly what I'm doing,' he said. He patted the shoulder of a stout, middle-aged man with a sunburnt face

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and startling green eyes. 'This is Tungale MapeGovan. I'm doing business with him.'

The man'who seemed well on his way to being thoroughly drunk'smiled up at Anne.

'Hinne allan' he commented, scratching his belly.

'Well, can't you hurry it up?' she asked, ignoring the disgusting fellow.

'They don't seem to do things in a hurry here,' Cazio remarked. 'My kind of people, really.'

'Cazio.'

'Also, we don't have enough money,' he said.

'You've money for wine, it seems.'

Cazio took another swig. 'No,' he said, 'we're earning that with stories.'

'Well, how much do we need?' she asked, exasperated.

He set the jug back on the table. 'He wants twice what we have for an ass and four days' provisions.'

'An ass?'

'No one around here has a horse'even if they did, we could never afford it.'

'Well, one ass hardly seems worth the trouble,' Anne said. 'Just buy the food.'

'If you want to carry it on your back,' Cazio remarked, 'I'll settle that right now.'

'If I have to, I will. We can't wait here any longer.'

Someone tugged lightly on her hair. She gasped and discovered Tungale fondling it.

'Stop that,' she said, brushing his hand away.

'Ol panne?' he asked.

Cazio glanced at the translator, but he was still busy with Malconio's tale.

'She's not for sale,' Cazio answered, shaking his head.

That was a little too much.

'For sale?' she shouted.

Malconio stopped in midsentence, and the table erupted in laughter.

'

'Ne, ne,' Tungale said. 'Se venne se panne?' 'What's he saving?' Anne demanded.

The translator smiled broadly, emphasizing his mostly toothless condition. 'He wants to know how much your hair costs.'

'My hair?'

'Se venne se?' he asked Tungale.

'Te,' Tungale replied.

'Yes,' the translator said. 'Your hair. How much?'

Anne felt her face burning.

'Her hair isn't',' Cazio began, but Anne put a hand on his arm.

'The ass and food for a nineday,' she said.

Austra turned at that. 'Anne, no.'

'It's only hair, Austra,' Anne replied. She nodded at the translator, 'Tell him.'

Despite her brave words, she had to work hard to keep from crying when they sheared it off, with everyone in the room whooping and laughing as if they were watching a troupe perform its antics. She kept the tears in, though, and resisted the temptation to rub the stubble that remained on her scalp.

'There,' she said, got up from her chair, and nearly bolted outside. There she did tear up a bit, not so much from the loss of her hair as from the humiliation.

She heard footsteps behind her. 'Leave me alone,' she said without turning. 'I just thought you might want this.'

She looked back, a little surprised to find that it was Malconio. He was holding one of the black scarves the women of the village wore. She stared at it for a moment.

'You know,' he said, 'you could have asked me for the money. I'll have to sell off some goods here anyway to get the ship repaired. Cazio's too proud, but you could have asked.'

She shook her head. 'I can't ask you for anything, Captain. Some of your men died because of me, and your ship was wrecked. I owe you too much already.'

'That's true, in its way,' Malconio said. 'But sailors die and ships Friendships

are wrecked. There is such a thing as fate, and it's a waste of time to wish you hadn't done something. Better to learn from your mistakes and move on. I don't hold any grudge against you, Anne. I took you as a passenger because my brother asked me to, and despite what I said earlier, I do have some idea what to expect from my brother and his'situations.

'Do you know how hard it must have been for him to come to me? But he did, which tells me something about you. That you dragged him away from the Tero Mefio says even more. The Cazio I knew never did much for anyone but himself. If he's improved, how can I let him show me up?'

Anne managed a little smile at that. 'You do love him, don't you?'

Malconio smiled. 'He's my brother.'

He proffered the scarf, and she took it. 'Thank you,' she said. 'One day I will be able to repay you.'

'The only payment I ask is that you watch out for my little brother,' Malconio said.

'I'll do my best.'

Malconio smiled, but the smile quickly vanished as he lifted his head and his eyes focused behind her. 'There they are,' he sighed. 'I should have known they wouldn't sink.'

Anne followed his gaze. There, where sea and sky met, she saw sails.

'Oh, no,' she whispered.

'They aren't coming this way,' Malconio said after a moment. 'They're probably looking for a deeper port'she's missing a mast, you see?'

Anne didn't, but she nodded. Malconio was right, though'the ship wasn't sailing toward land, but parallel to it.

'If they see your ship',' she began, but Malconio shook his head.

'It's not likely at that range, not with the Delia Puchia in dry-dock and without masts. But even if she did, she couldn't come in'not through those reefs we passed. Her keel's too deep.' He turned to Anne. 'Still, I would go if I were you, and quickly. If they have seen the Puchia, they'll send men back over land as soon as they find a harbor with deeper water. You could have all the time in the world, but on the other hand, you might have only a day.'

'What if they do come here?' Anne asked. 'They'll kill you.'

'No,' Malconio said. 'I'm not fated to die on land. Get the others and make a start. You've still got a few bells before sundown.'

Cazio found his brother with his ship.

Malconio scowled when he saw him. 'Are you still here? Didn't Anne tell you we saw the ship?'

'Yes,' Cazio said. 'I just'' He fumbled off, suddenly unsure what he wanted to say.

'Good-byes are bad luck,' Malconio grumbled. 'Implies that you don't expect to see each other again. And I'm sure to see you again, right, little brother?'

Cazio felt something bitter suck in his lungs. 'I'm sorry about your ship,' he said.

'Well, we'll talk about that again when you've made your fortune,' Malconio said. 'Meanwhile, you let me worry about it. It is my ship, after all.'

'You're making fun of me,' Cazio said.

'No,' Malconio replied. 'No, I'm not. You have a destiny, fratrillo, I can feel it in my bones. And it's your own'not mine, not our father's, not our revered forefathers'. It's yours. I'm just glad somebody finally got you out looking for it. And when you've found it, I expect you to come to my house in Turanate and tell me about it.'

'I'd like to see it,' Cazio said.

Malconio smiled. 'Go on,' he said. 'Azdei, until I see you next.' Cazio clasped his brother's hand, then trudged back up from the strand to where the others waited.

There was only one road out of Duvre, and it was really no more than a narrow track. Cazio led the way, leading their newly purchased donkey, sparing one glance back at his brother's ship before they entered the trees above the village. He saw Malconio, a tiny figure, working with his men.

Then he turned his eyes to the road ahead of him.

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The forest soon gave way to rolling fields of wheat. They saw a few distant houses, but no village even the size of Duvre. Dusk found him building a campfire beneath an apple tree so ancient its lower limbs had drooped to the ground.

Anne hadn't said much since she lost her hair. Cazio had never seen a woman without hair and he didn't like the look. It was better when she wrapped the scarf on her head.

He tried to start a conversation with her once or twice, but her answers were terse and didn't go anywhere.

Austra was quiet, too. He gathered the two girls had had some sort of fight on the ship, and both were still sulking about it. He wondered if the fight had been over him. Austra was taking very well to his attentions; if Anne was jealous, she wasn't showing him, but she could be taking it out on Austra.

Which left z'Acatto, who had grumbled drunkenly at having been roused from his stupor, but who by the time they started setting up camp was getting pretty garrulous. When Cazio drew Caspator and began a few exercises, the old man grunted, came to his feet, and drew his own blade.

'I saw you attack with the z'ostato the other day,' he said.

'I did,' Cazio said.

'That's a foolish attack,' z'Acatto said. 'I never taught you that.'

'No,' Cazio agreed. 'It was something one of Estenio's students tried on me.'

'Uh-huh. Did it work?'

Cazio grinned. 'No. I replied with the pero perfo and let him impale himself.'

'Of course. Once your feet leave the ground, you can no longer change direction.

You sacrifice all your maneuverability.'

'Yes.'

Z'Acatto made a few passes in the air. 'Then why did you do it?' he asked.

Cazio thought back, trying to remember. 'The knight almost had Anne,' he said, after a moment. 'I might have reached him with a lunge, but my point would not have pierced his armor and the force of the blow wouldn't have been enough to stop him. But with the

whole weight of my body behind my tip, I was able to topple him. I think I crushed his windpipe through his gorget, too, but since he was a devil of some sort, that didn't matter.'

Z'Acatto nodded. 'I never taught you the z'ostato, because it is a foolish move when fencing with rapiers. It is not so foolish when fighting an armored man with a heavy sword.'

Cazio tried to hide his astonishment. 'Are you saying I was right to use it?'

'You were right to use it, but you did not use it correctly. Your form was poor.'

'It worked,' Cazio protested.

Z'Acatto wagged a finger at him. 'What was the first thing I told you about the art of dessrata?'

Cazio sighed and leaned on his sword. 'That dessrata isn't about speed or strength, but about doing things correctly,' he said.

'Exactly!' z'Acatto cried, flourishing his weapon. 'Sometimes speed and strength may allow you to succeed despite poor form, don't get me wrong. But one day you will not have that speed and strength, either because you are wounded, or sick'or old, like me. Better to prepare for it.'

'Very well,' Cazio conceded. 'What did I do wrong?' Z'Acatto set his guard stance. 'It begins thus, with the back foot,' he began. 'It must explode forward, and your arm must already be rigid and in line. You should make the attack to the outside line, not the inside, because it's closer. After you strike, you pass, perhaps to thrust again from behind, perhaps merely to run away. Try it.'

Under the old man's guidance, Cazio practiced the motion a few times.

'Better,' z'Acatto said. 'But the leap should be more forward' you shouldn't leave the ground so far behind. The more you go up, the slower it is, and above all this must be quick.'

'What is my target, on an armored man?' Cazio inquired.

'The gorget was a fair choice. If the arm is lifted, that's good, too, right in the pit of it. If you're behind, up under the helm. The back of the knee. The eye-slits, if you can hit them.'

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Cazio grinned. 'Didn't you once teach me that one doesn't fight a knight?' Cazio asked.

'One doesn't fence with them,' Cazio replied. 'That doesn't mean you can't kill them.'

'Except, apparently, in the case of our present enemies,' Cazio reminded him.

'Most of them are flesh and blood,' z'Acatto scoffed. 'The others we merely need to decapitate. We know it can be done.'

He raised his rapier and held it above his head, hilt up and the tip pointed more or less at Cazio's face. 'If the broadsword is held like this, and he thrusts, don't parry. Counterattack along his blade and void to the side. Never meet a broadsword with a simple parry. Use your feet'wait for the cut, then thrust, watch for the backswing.'

For the next two hours, by firelight, they played at rapier and broadsword, and for the first time in a long time, Cazio felt a return of the sheer joy of dessrata, of learning and practicing with his mestro.

Finally, panting, the old man retired his weapon to its scabbard. 'Enough,' he sighed. 'I'm getting too old for this.'

'A few more?' Cazio begged. 'What if the blow comes from beneath, but'?'

'No, no. Tomorrow.' z'Acatto sagged down onto a rock, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow.

'When did you fight knights, z'Acatto?' Cazio asked.

Z'Acatto just grunted and looked at the fire.

'Ospero called you Emrature. What did he mean by that?'

'That was a long time ago,' z'Acatto murmured. 'Times I don't like thinking of when I don't have to.'

'You've never said anything about being a commander.'

Z'Acatto shook his head. 'I just said I don't like to talk about it, didn't I?'

'Yes.'

'Well.' He got up, stretched out on his blanket, and closed his eyes.

Cazio watched him for a long while. The girls were already asleep. It looked like he had the watch.

o ' o

The next day was cool and clear. The fields continued, and after a bell of traveling, they saw a castle on a distant hill. Cazio could make out the white walls and yellow roofs of a small town that lay beneath it.

Presently they reached a fork in the road. One path led toward the castle; the other continued straight.

'Straight on is our direction,' Cazio said.

'You're awfully cheerful this morning,' Austra noticed. The two of them and the ass were somewhat ahead of the others. Anne was lagging back a bit, and seemed deep in thought. Z'Acatto was limping. 'I suppose I am,' Cazio replied. 'Why wouldn't I be? I'm in the company of a beautiful casnara, the sun is shining, and we've escaped danger, at least for the moment. Best of all, we're not on a ship.'

'There is that,' Austra said.

'And all of this,' Cazio said, waving his arm about. 'It's a change. It's certainly not Vitellio. Is Crotheny like this?'

Austra shook her head. 'This is more like Vitellio, really,' she said. 'Crotheny is wetter. There are more trees and the fields are greener, even this time of year. It's colder there, too.'

'Well, I'm looking forward to seeing it. You must be. You must be ready to go home.'

Austra lifted her shoulders diffidently. 'I'm not sure what home is now,' she said. 'Everything's changed. I don't know if there will be a place for me anymore.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean I don't know if Anne will still want me as her maid.'

'Maid?'

She looked surprised. 'Didn't you know?'

'I didn't. I thought you were cousins or friends.'

'Well, we were friends.'

He glanced back at Anne and lowered his voice. 'I've noticed you two haven't been very friendly lately.'

'We had a fight on the ship,' Austra admitted. 'I said some things I shouldn't have.'

'Well, you've known her for longer than I have,' Cazio said, 'but she isn't the easiest person in the world to get along with.'

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'She used to be, to me,' Austra said.

'But something's changed.'

'Yes. She's changed. Something's happened to her, and she won't tell me what.'

Cazio tugged at the mule, who seemed interested in something on the side of the road. 'Well,' he said, 'you tell me her father and sisters were killed, and someone's making a pretty good effort to kill her, too. That's probably had a bit of an effect.'

'Of course. But it's more than that.'

'Well, I'm sure you two will make up soon,' Cazio said. 'Or at least I hope so.

I hate to see such long faces.'

They went another few steps in silence. 'I'm glad you're here, Cazio,' she said.

'Anne is the only friend I ever really had.'

'I hope I'm your friend,' he said.

'You feel like a friend,' Austra replied. 'But not like Anne.'

'No? What sort of friend am I, then?'

'The sort I rarely even dared to imagine,' she replied.

Feeling strange and oddly guilty, he slipped his hand into hers.

Malconio was right. His interest had always been in Anne, though what drove him crazy about that was that he couldn't exactly say why. But Anne was difficult.

She still thought she was in love with this Roderick fellow. He'd thought by showing Austra some attention, he might get Anne to look his way'a lot of women were like that. At times he thought he might be succeeding. At others he felt he was wasting his time.

But meanwhile he had succeeded all too well with Austra. There was no mistaking her affection.

To his surprise, he realized he was genuinely starting to return it. She was kind and intelligent, and in her own way every bit as pretty as Anne. Oddly, every time he looked at her, she seemed prettier. Austra was the sort of girl you wanted to hold and comfort, and tell everything would be all right.

But he still wanted Anne.

A little after noon, they reached the great Vitellian way which was, finally, a real road, wide enough for carriages. One passed them, and p

I

Anne watched it go by longingly. She and Austra had traveled to ', Vitellio in such a carriage, with all the luxuries she had grown up ex- 3

pecting.

Now she was returning home with an ass.

There was one way the two journeys were similar'Austra hadn't been talking to her much in the carriage, either. She had been punishing her for trying to run away. That argument had been fixed with a promise. She didn't think this silence could be so easily broken.

Austra had Cazio now, anyway. The two of them had been holding hands all day.

They stayed that night in a barn just outside of Pacre. The farmer spoke a little king's tongue, and told them they would be crossing into Hornladh soon.

Her heart quickened a little at that, and she asked him if he knew where Dunmrogh was. He said it was in the east, but wasn't sure of the way.

That night she lay awake, feeling guilty for not thinking of Roderick more. She knew she loved him, but so much had been happening.

Deep down, she knew it was more. Cazio had planted doubts about Roderick, and though she knew he was wrong, she couldn't get them completely out of her mind.

She needed to see him again. Was he in Eslen or back home in Dunmrogh?

Perhaps when they reached Paldh, she could find a courier to carry word to Dunmrogh that she was coming home.

The next day, the fields gave way to expansive vineyards that ran over the hills all the way to the horizon. Anne remembered them from their trip in the carriage'she remembered that she had never imagined there were so many grapes in the entire world.

She glanced over at Austra, who for once wasn't walking twenty yards ahead of her.

'The Teremene River must be up ahead,' Anne ventured. 'If I remember from your journal.'

'I think you're right,' Austra said.

'That was clever of you,' Anne went on, 'keeping that journal. At least we know where we are. How many days do you think we are from Eslen?'

i

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'It was five days by carriage,' Austra said. 'But we didn't travel all day, and we spent two nights in Paldh.'

'Six days, then, or seven do you think, if we press hard?'

'That might be right,' Austra allowed.

Anne bit her lip. 'Are we going to continue like this?' she asked. 'Not talking?'

'We're talking,' Austra said.

'You know what I mean.'

Austra sighed and nodded. 'It's just'I still love you, Anne, but sometimes I think you can't love me.'

'That's nonsense,' Anne said. 'You're my best friend. You've always been my best friend. And I still need you.'

'It just hurts, the way you keep shutting me out.'

'I know,' Anne said. .■;'' 'But you aren't going to stop.'

Anne sighed. 'Let me think about it. But can we call a truce for the time being?'

'We aren't at war.'

'Well, I'm glad to hear that,' Anne said, trying to sound bright.

They chatted after that, speculating about how things would be in Eslen. It wasn't as comfortable as it once had been, but it was better than the silence.

After about a bell, Austra asked for a break so she could answer the call of nature.

'I'll join you,' Anne said. 'The morning wine's gone straight through me.'

Cazio and z'Acatto took the opportunity to sit. 'Take your time,' Cazio said.

'The ass needs a rest.'

The two girls strolled up a hill through long rows of grapevines, until they couldn't see the men anymore. Anne wished it was the season for grapes'the dried fish and hard bread they'd purchased with her hair hadn't been good to start with, and she was really sick of it now.

'What's that down there?' Austra asked, when they'd finished what they climbed the hill to do.

Anne peered in the direction the other girl was pointing. The hill ' The Charnel Prince

sloped down away from where they had left the men, to form a little valley between it and the next hill. A line of willows marked a stream, but before the stream there was what first appeared to be an irregular wall of red brick. Then she saw there was more to it.

'It looks like some sort of ruin,' Anne said.

'Can we get a closer look?' Austra asked.

Anne didn't really feel like it'she had had enough of explorations and adventures to last a lifetime. But Austra was talking to her again.

'A small look,' she granted. 'We shouldn't delay too long.' They made their way down the hill. The formal vines ended halfway down and picked up on the next hill, but the valley was unruly, grown up with wild vines, brush, and bushes.

The ground was littered with bricks.

'It must have been a castle, or a mansion,' Austra said, when they drew nearer.

Anne nodded in agreement. Grapevines concealed most of the structure. One wall still stood higher than their heads'the rest had crumbled almost to the foundations. Still, they could see the outlines of the rooms that had been there, and it had been a house of considerable size.

Now that they were down here, it was also apparent that there were more buildings, or what had once been buildings. Yet there was something odd about them. Even in ruin, there was something familiar.

Curious, Anne stepped over the remains of a wall and into the nearest ruin.

There was a sort of mound not far in, which on closer inspection turned out to be a broken stone box. Something dull and white caught her eye, and she bent to pick it up. It was thin but heavy, and with a start she realized it was a small piece of lead foil. She felt the slight raising of letters on it, and with a gasp dropped it.

'What's wrong?' Austra asked.

'This is a city of the dead,' Anne whispered. 'Like Eslen-of-Shadows.' She backed away from the box, which could only be the remains of a sarcophagus.

'Saints!' Austra murmured, looking around. 'But where is the Friendships

living city? We're too far from Pacre, and I don't think we're to Tere-mene yet.'

'No one has kept this up,' Anne said. 'The city-of-the-quick must be gone, too.

Maybe it was farther down the valley.'

'A whole town, gone?' Austra wondered aloud. 'How could that happen?'

'It happens,' Anne said. 'It might have been a plague, or war'' A shiver went down her back. 'Let's get out of here. These aren't our ancestors. They might not like having us here.'

'Wait,' Austra said. 'Look over there.'

Anne reluctantly followed Austra around another pile of rubble. Beyond it stood a construction that was more or less intact, square, four-walled, though with no roof. The arch of the doorway had fallen in, but the opening was still there.

Inside, trees and vines grew so thickly, they seemed nearly impenetrable.

'It's a horz,' Austra said. 'It looks almost like the one back home'where we found Virgenyas tomb.'

A strange sensation settled on Anne as she realized Austra was right. She felt something turn behind her eyes and the faint whisper of a voice in a language she did not know.

'We have to leave, Austra,' she said urgently. 'We have to leave now.'

Austra turned, and her eyes widened. 'Your face,' she said, sounding concerned.

'Are you all right?'

'I just have to leave.'

The feeling faded as they put the horz behind them.

'What was it?' Austra asked.

'I don't know,' Anne replied. Then, seeing the skeptical look on Austra's face, she said, 'I really don't know. But I'm feeling better now.'

Austra suddenly frowned. 'Did you hear that?' she asked. 'Was that Cazio?'

'I didn't hear anything.'

Austra started running up the hill, but Anne caught her by the hand. 'Wait,' she whispered. 'Slowly. Quietly.'

'Why? It sounded like he was shouting.'

'All the more reason,' Anne said. 'What if he was trying to warn usr

'Warn us?' Austra's voice sounded a little panicky.

They hurried to the top of the hill, crouching low, and peered down through the grapevines.

Cazio and z'Acatto were there, along with some twenty riders. Cazio was down on his knees, his sword several yards away, and one of the men was binding his hands behind his back. Z'Acatto was standing and already bound.

It was the knights and soldiers from the docks.

'They've found us,' Anne whispered.

'Cazio,' Austra gasped. Then she opened her mouth to shout it, and Anne had to clap a hand over it.

'No,' Anne barely sighed. 'We have to run.'

Austra closed her eyes and nodded. Anne removed her hand.

'We can't leave them,' Austra said anxiously.

'They didn't kill them,' Anne said. 'They won't unless they catch us, do you see? But if they do catch us, we'll all die.'

'They'll come up here,' Anne said. 'We're lucky they haven't already, but they recognized Cazio and z'Acatto, so they know we must be somewhere. The only way we can help them is by staying free.'

'I suppose so,' Austra relented.

They started back down the hill, toward the ruins, creeping at first, but when they heard horses' hooves coming up behind them, they began to run.