[Galaxy Of Fear] - 12(21)

Tash! She got everything. She got to be older. She got to be smarter. She got to use the Force.

Feeling worthless and abandoned, Zak made his slow way back into the village.

Clomping unhappily into the collection of mud huts, Zak saw no one but the painfully thin Children huddled around a fire in the village center. Warm, pleasant smells cut through the rotten-wood odor of Dagobah, causing Zak’s stomach to growl.

He was very hungry.

Galt stood up from the fire, where the pot of stew still bubbled. “Zak, are you all right?” he asked earnestly. “I was scared the imp had stolen you away.”

“He’s not dangerous,” Zak replied. “How is Traut?”

“We put meat-flower grass on his wounds. He is resting.”

Zak sniffed the food smells. “For people who don’t eat much, you’ve certainly had a lot to cook lately.”

Galt grinned. “We’ve been able to find food lately.”

“I guess we brought you good luck,” Zak said absentmindedly.

“Yes, you did.” Galt handed Zak the bowl of stew he was holding. “Would you like some? It will make you healthy and strong.”

“Yeah, I’m starved.” Zak took a bowl. His mouth was already watering. But then he handed it back. “In a minute. I want to check on Traut first.”

“He is resting,” Galt said again.

“I’ll just look in on him quickly. He saved my life. Which hut?”

Galt glared into the bowl of stew. “That one,” he said at last, pointing to a hut across the village. Zak started toward it with Galt following him. “But he is sleeping.”

“I’ll bet he is,” Zak said as they reached the hut. “That bang on his head must have knocked him out.”

“And his arm,” Galt added.

Zak stopped in the doorway. “What about his arm?”

Galt shook his head sadly. “The spider wound was very bad. There was nothing we could do for it.”

“What are you talking about? His arm was fine.” Zak ducked his head and peered into the hut. In the gloom he could see Traut lying unconscious on a moss bed. The Children had pressed a wad of damp grass against his forehead to help the cut there heal, but that was hardly noticeable. What caught Zak’s attention was a compress of rags, grass, and leaves that had been wrapped around the smuggler’s left shoulder.

Beneath the homemade bandages, Traut’s left arm was missing.

“We had to take it off,” Galt sighed. “We had to do it before the spider’s poison reached the rest of his body.”

Zak was horrified. “Spider … poison?”

“It kills,” Galt said. “We saved his life.”

Zak started to say that the spiders weren’t poisonous Yoda had said so-but he held his tongue. He didn’t want to have to explain Yoda to Galt. But why would Galt say the spiders were poisonous if they weren’t?

“Will you eat now?” Galt asked.

The sight of poor Traut was enough to make Zak lose his appetite. But his body was still hungry. He felt as if he hadn’t eaten in years. With his stomach growling, Zak allowed Galt to lead him to the open fire, where several of the Children were still huddled on the ground, licking the last drops of stew from crude bowls.

The pot was almost empty, but Galt scooped the last helping of stew into the bowl. The bowl came out almost full, with chunks of meat and brown sauce dripping down the sides.

Zak took the bowl and a wooden spoon. He sat down and stirred the stew, then brought up a spoonful and opened his mouth to savor the first bite.

The spoon stopped halfway to his mouth.

Then the spoon fell out of his trembling hand.

In the center of the spoon, swimming in brown sauce, was a small metal circle. Liquid slid away from it, revealing its design.

It was Traut’s promise ring.





CHAPTER 14


Zak flung the bowl of stew away, its contents splattering across the ground. The Children shouted in horror at his wastefulness.

“What is wrong with you?” Galt screeched, leaping to his feet. “That was the last bowl! Food is not to be wasted!”

“Look!” Zak said, pointing and trying not to gag. The promise ring lay on the ground nearby. “How did that get into the stew?”

Galt picked up the promise ring and wiped the sauce from it. “What is it?”

“It’s Traut’s promise ring,” Zak said, his stomach churning. “It was on his left hand-on the arm that you cut off. But how did it end up in my stew?”

Galt blinked like a night creature caught in the sun. “I took it,” he admitted. “When we had to take the arm off, I noticed the ring. I knew it was important, so I put it in my pocket. It must have fallen out just now when I served your stew.”