"What birds?" I asked her.

She sighed. "What do you want to do about it?"

"Stir things up. We're here for information. Let me go collect some."

"That is remarkably foolish," she said.

"I know. They won't be expecting it from a general as brilliant as you. I'll catch them by complete surprise." I paused. "If I see my old boss, do I kill him?"

"That's awfully bloodthirsty of you," she said.

"It wouldn't be boring," I said. "Messy though. Messy is better than boring."

"Didn't you bring anything to read?"

"Yes," I said. "I did. It's all on my phone."

"You are such a smart ass."

I settled down in the grass next to Petra. Every few minutes I heaved a huge sigh.

"That's very irritating," she said after the third or fourth sigh.

"Maybe I should take a little walk. I could follow these woods to that little village over there, see if they have a penny arcade or something. Maybe get a cappuccino."

"Felicia," she said. "You aren't this stupid. What is wrong with you?"

"What is going to happen? I walk into the village. I'm noticed or I'm not. If I'm not, that tells us they aren't very observant. I look around, turn around and leave. If I'm noticed, they do something or they don't. If they don't, it tells us they don't really care. If they do, perhaps we get an idea on where in the village they're staying."

"What if what they do is kill you?"

"Do you think that's what they'd do? Or would they want to capture me? Or at least threaten me first?"

"Your martial arts aren't good enough to prevent capture."

"I wouldn't stick around. Pop goes the Felicia. I'd run to put on a little show and pop home."

"What if they manage to hit you over the head first?"

"You're full of what if. I'll be careful."

She sighed.

"Today we watch." She lowered her binoculars and looked over at me. "Do I need to find a way to enforce that?"

I thought about it. "No. I'll behave."

I watched the birds for a while. Then there was movement in the village, and I watched the local equivalent of a dog lope down the street and disappear from view. I kept quiet for at least thirty minutes. Well, fifteen anyway, before I laid the binoculars down and put my head in my arms. And sighed.

Petra didn't even look at me. She just reached over with a hand and made my body go limp.

"Hey!"

Then she touched my throat and I couldn't talk anymore either.

She waited ten or fifteen seconds before she said, "Ah, peace and quiet."

She left me like that until lunchtime. I fumed for about an hour of it then gave up and took a nap.

The next thing I knew, Petra was rolling me over. I still couldn't move, so I was a limp rag doll.

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

"Are you still sulking?"

I stared at her. I didn't even try talking.

She shook me a little. "Say something."

"Something," I said.

"Smart ass."

"How was I supposed to know you let me talk again?"

"I've been talking to you for fifteen minutes."

"And I've been napping for several hours. What else was I supposed to do? Are you going to let me move or not?"

She pulled my limp body into her arms. I didn't have much choice, so I kept my mouth shut about it.

"You will listen to me," she said. "Or I will take your voice away and send you home like this." I believed her. I didn't want to think what it would do to our relationship.

"I'm listening," I said.

"The thought of you getting hurt scares the crap out of me. I'm already terrified. I don't have a clue what to do about this situation. I don't have a military mind. I'd rather find a diplomatic solution, but we've tried several overtures, and they aren't interested. I think Vincent gets his kick out of knowing Renea is locked in the castle, and that's all he cares about."

I didn't have anything to say about that.

"You were intentionally getting on my nerves when I'm already scared, and I was very afraid I'd give in, then watch you get hurt."

I still had nothing to say.

"If I let you move, are you going to do anything stupid?" she asked.

"Petra, other than running my mouth off, have you ever seen me do anything stupid?"

She stared into my eyes. "No, I haven't."

She brushed a hand over my body, and control over my limbs returned to me.

I pulled myself out of her arms and backed away from the field, then stood up and stretched. I turned my back on her, found my backpack, and looked through it for something to eat.

Everyone else was a little distance away, watching Petra and I warily.

I ate an apple then turned around and saw Petra watching me.

"You're not going to scream at me?"

"Don't you think screaming would be kind of stupid? Defeat the entire purpose of being quiet?" I paused. "Did we learn anything?"

"Not really. We didn't see anyone. Not a single person."

"So perhaps instead of putting me down, you could have told me to find a different angle to scout from."

"I couldn't trust you."

I sighed. "That's the most insulting thing you've ever said to me. Am I in the habit of breaking my promises or in some other way disappointing you?"

She looked away. "You're right. I'm sorry. I am so stressed I am making bad choices. We should go and recoup."

"Perhaps you should trust me," I told her.

"You'll get yourself hurt."

"Do you care if they know we were here?" I asked her.

She thought about it. "No."

"Good. Then I'm going to go stand fifty yards out in that field and see what happens."

I waited while she thought about it.

"If you see a bow, you're out of there."

"Yes."

"You will also leave before I have a heart attack."

"I'll pop out and you will pull me back here."

She nodded.

I stepped for the field and walked out. I counted my steps and stopped at fifty.

Nothing happened. No one noticed. Not a thing happened. I turned around and searched the woods for Petra. I pointed further into the field then held up five fingers then a closed fist. Fifty more steps." She nodded.

I turned to the village and took another carefully counted fifty steps and stopped.

Nothing. I stood there for ten minutes and nothing happened. I sighed, then yelled, "Hey assholes!" Nothing.

I turned around and walked back.

"Quiet," I said.

"Too quiet," said Erika. I grinned at her.

"Petra, I want to walk to the village," I told her. "Otherwise the whole day is a bust."

"You know," Andrea said. "Vincent could be at work. It is the middle of the day."

"I think we should thin his ranks," I said. "I'll go lure them out. If there are too many, we all just leave. If there are only a few, we see how belligerent they are."

I looked at Petra. "May I? You'll have to, I don't know. Trust me."

She thought about it and nodded.

Cool.

I stepped back into the field and walked towards the village. When I reached rock throwing distance, I stopped. I didn't see anyone, not even the farmer who owned the field I'd just walked through.

I looked around. The village held eight buildings. On the outskirts were more farms. There wasn't anything that resembled a church. I also didn't think there was an inn or anything like that. I did see what I thought might be a stables.

I walked the rest of the way into the village. I didn't see a single person. "Hello!" I yelled. "Innocent, helpless female available for plundering!"

It was a ghost town. Village. Hamlet. Whatever.

I stood there for a while. I walked to the stables. I didn't see anyone. I let myself into the corral, then turned to the building. I saw no one. I entered the building cautiously, ready to pop out. I saw no people. There were two horses. "How did you guys get here?" I asked. I looked in their mangers. There was no hay. Or straw. Or whatever it is that horses eat.

I looked around, then climbed into the loft. No one was there. There was a hay bale that was just out of horse range. I pulled clumps from it and fed it to the horses. They seemed to appreciate that, so I dumped some hay into each of their mangers. I thought about what my cats are like when they haven't been eating. Sick horse didn't sound like a good idea. I decided to under-feed them rather than over-feed them.

There was a bucket hanging from a peg by the door, so I grabbed it and stepped back outside. There was a windmill next to a water trough in the corral. I took the bucket to the water trough, filled it, and brought it back and poured it into a trough next to one of the horse's mangers. I did the same for the second horse. I hung the bucket back up and stepped back outside.

I walked to where Petra would be able to see me and waved. Then I turned back and checked out another of the main buildings. It was a smithy. I heard a noise from the back of the smithy.

"Hello?" I said.

The sound remained unchanged. I stepped deeper into the smithy. The noise was buzzing. "Hello?"

I stepped around a corner, stopped, and stared.

There were two people on the ground, clearly dead. I wasn't sure what had killed them, but the flies and animals had been at them for at least a while.

I avoided getting sick until I made it back outside.

I bent over for a while, one hand on the side of the building, retching. I finally straightened back up, grabbed my water bottle, and cleared my mouth several times with the water.

I wished I had a breath mint. Or a toothbrush.