But Tash had already made up her mind. “No,” she decided. “Not right now. Besides, I’m not sure how safe I feel wandering around alone after what happened at the ravine. Maga is awfully angry at me.”
“Maga,” Zak chuckled. “You handled him pretty well last night.”
Tash turned to her brother. “You knew that was me? With the porridge?”
“Let’s just say I figured you were trying to Force the issue.”
Tash sat down in the grass, shaking her head. “It’s not funny, Zak. I think I did something wrong.”
“It was just a practical joke, Tash.”
“But I used the Force,” she explained. “And I was mad.”
“So?” Zak replied.
Tash wanted to tell him about waking up angry the night before, but she couldn’t. Finally, she said, “I don’t know… it’s not just the kind of thing I normally do.”
“No kidding,” Zak chuckled. “It’s about time you started to loosen up a little.”
Tash shook her head. “I’m just not sure that’s the kind of person I’m supposed to be.”
Zak shrugged his shoulders. “You’re supposed to be who you are. That’s all.”
“Yeah, but who is that?” Tash asked, staring out at the prairie. “I mean, I can use the Force a little, right? So am I supposed to be some wise Jedi Master now, or a thirteen year-old? I don’t think I can be both.”
“You think too much,” Zak replied.
Tash was about to reply when she felt a hand clamp down on her neck like a vise. A powerful hand spun her around, and she found herself staring into Maga’s ugly face.
“So,” the Dantari growled, “now it is Maga’s turn to play tricks.”
CHAPTER 4
Tash didn’t know how the huge Dantari had sneaked up on them so quietly. All she knew was that his enormous hand was poised to snap her neck like a twig. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Zak caught in a similar hold. Then her vision started to go black around the edges.
Maga spun her around and she found herself staring into his wide, flat face. He was so close that his stinking breath hung around her nose like a thick cloud. She started to swoon.
Just when she thought the Dantari would break her neck, his grip suddenly loosened. Tash dropped to the ground. The ground seemed to spin as she felt blood rush to her head. Fighting to keep her knees from trembling, Tash climbed to her feet and looked around to see who had stopped Maga from killing them.
But there was no one there.
Maga stood before them, almost twice as tall as Tash. Stringy black hair hung over his forehead and into his eyes. His face was set in an angry frown.
“Wh-Why?” she gasped.
Maga grunted. “Why do I not kill you?” His dark eyes gleamed. “I could. No one sees. I could break you!” He made a motion as though snapping a tree branch, and Tash shuddered.
But the Dantari’s frown suddenly disappeared. “I do it to show you. To prove to you I do not try to kill you.”
Tash didn’t know whether to be happy or shocked or both. She looked around again. The Dantari camp was far away, and although they were standing atop the small hill, it would have been a simple thing for Maga to carry them down the other side of the hill, away from camp, and dispose of them both. Uncle Hoole was not around to protect them. There were no witnesses.
“I-I’m sorry, Maga,” she said at last. “I guess I misjudged you.”
“Right,” Zak added, although he didn’t sound quite as certain.
Maga grunted softly, which must have been his way of accepting the apology, because his shoulders relaxed. He looked past them at the ruins in the distance. “You look at the place of fallen rocks?”
“The ruins?” Tash asked. “Yes, we were interested. We didn’t think the Dantari built anything.”
Maga shook his head. “Those are not Dantari. Offworlders built those. The far one built fifteen seasons ago, before Maga became garoo. The near one is older. Much older.” His dark eyes studied Tash. “Thousands of seasons ago. Built by Jedi.”
Tash’s eyes widened. “Y-You know about the Jedi?”
Maga laughed at her. “Maga is garoo. Wise man of my people. My teacher pass down wisdom to me. His teacher pass to him.” He puffed up his chest proudly. “What Dantari for ten thousand seasons have seen, and heard, is here. ” He tapped his head.
Tash felt a heavy weight fall around her heart. She really had misjudged Maga. Uncle Hoole had warned her not to be so harsh. After all, they were the strangers in this beautiful but empty land. Tash had made the mistake of assuming the Dantari were as empty as their planet. She had thought the garoo was a fake, a phony magician. But it amazed her to think of all the things he must know.