Page 37 of Ties of Bargains

Val slowed and spun once again. “That dog is going to be the death of me.”

As she raced toward Daisy and the scarecrow, Harm followed in her footsteps, and not just because the tether wouldn’t let him get farther than ten feet away from her. He was rather fond of the dog too.

Val hacked at the scarecrow, chopping the straw into tiny bits. Harm joined her, the two of them—three of them, counting Daisy—reducing the scarecrow to chaff. Val even went so far as to slice the vegetable head into pieces. As she retrieved her spear and slid it back into her pocket, she patted her side. “Come on, Daisy. Let’s go. That should buy us some time.”

This time Harm sheathed his sword, the better to run. He set off at Val’s side, and all three of them sprinted through the cornfield, following the meandering paths. Harm could only hope they were headed for a border of the field and not just running in circles, lost in the giant field.

They’d put the scarecrow well out of sight when the scratching roar echoed through the field once again.

Val’s jaw worked, and she put on a burst of speed. Harm had no choice but to match her pace. Next to them, Daisy ran with her mouth shut and her ears pressed to her skull.

“There!” Val changed direction, swerving up a smaller path barely wide enough for Harm’s shoulders.

He dove after her, his pounding heart lifting as he spotted the bright line where the corn gave way to another field.

A crash came behind him, and he risked a glance over his shoulder.

The scarecrow plunged after them down the narrow row. Its head remained only half put together while orange pieces bounced over the ground behind it.

Harm pushed himself even faster, stretching his long legs and pumping his arms. Even Val huffed gulping breaths as she raced just ahead of him.

As Val crossed the line into the next field, Daisy halted and started to turn, preparing to attack the creature once again.

Harm slowed and hefted the dog into his arms, asquirming mass of solid muscle. The top of her head smashed into his chin as she scrambled to get free.

“Harm!” Val’s shout snapped his head up.

The scarecrow was only feet away, a hole still gaping in its vegetable head like a gruesome mouth and that same dry shriek shaking the cornstalks around them.

Harm’s feet were rooted to the spot, and it was all he could do to keep his grip on the dog flailing in his arms.

Just as the scarecrow swung at him, something jerked him by the wrist. Hard.

Harm tumbled out of the cornfield, landing on his back on a bed of vines and tilled earth. Daisy’s weight fell on his stomach and chest, knocking the breath out of him.

Before Daisy could scramble free of his loosened grip, Val dropped her two-handed grip on the cord, darted forward, and grabbed Daisy by the scruff of the neck of her middle head. “It’s all right, Daisy. You held it off.”

The scarecrow tottered to a halt at the very edge of the field, screeching and waving its arms, but coming no farther.

Harm sucked in a shaky breath and didn’t try to get up. He was never going near a scarecrow ever again.

Chapter Thirteen

After the exertion, even Val’s legs ached as she and Harm hiked across the endless fields of the Harvest Court. By the time the sun eased low in the sky, Val was more than ready to find a safe place to camp for the night.

“Keep your eyes peeled for a cave, a tall tree, or an abandoned house.” Val scanned the rolling hills around them. She and Harm needed a safe place before nightfall when the nuckelavee came out to patrol the fields.

Yet all she could see were more fields. This was why she hated traveling through the Harvest Court.

“We can’t just pitch the tent?” Harm rested a hand on his sword’s hilt.

“The tent wouldn’t be enough. Not in the Harvest Court.” Val squinted at a splotch of color in the distance. Was that a stand of trees? Would it be safe or infested with something dangerous? “I was hoping to find a nice cave to hole up in for the night. Or a tree tall enough to string hammocks out of the nuckelavee’s reach. Theirone weakness—if the nuckelavee have such a thing—is that they can’t climb.”

“I see.” Harm’s posture grew more tense as he strode at her side.

Val changed their direction slightly to head toward the distant copse of trees. It was the only shelter to be found, and daylight was fading fast into long shadows and an orange cast on the rustling cornstalks of the nearby field.

She and Harm skirted the cornfield, then crossed a small squash patch—after checking for any more scarecrows.

---