第71章

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  “we sing at home. at work, too. that’s why i love your pin,”
  she says, pointing to the mockingjay that i’ve again forgotten
  about.
  “you have mockingjays?” i ask.
  “oh, yes. i have a few that are my special friends. we can
  sing back and forth for hours. they carry messages for me,”
  she says.
  “what do you mean?” i say.
  “i’m usually up highest, so i’m the first to see the flag that
  signals quitting time. there’s a special little song i do,” says
  rue. she opens her mouth and sings a little four-note run in a
  sweet, clear voice. “and the mockingjays spread it around the
  orchard. that’s how everyone knows to knock off,” she con-
  tinues. “they can be dangerous though, if you get too near
  their nests. but you can’t blame them for that.”
  i unclasp the pin and hold it out to her. “here, you take it. it
  has more meaning for you than me.”
  “oh, no,” says rue, closing my fingers back over the pin. “i
  like to see it on you. that’s how i decided i could trust you.
  besides, i have this.” she pulls a necklace woven out of some
  kind of grass from her shirt. on it, hangs a roughly carved
  wooden star. or maybe it’s a flower. “it’s a good luck charm.”
  “well, it’s worked so far,” i say, pinning the mockingjay
  back on my shirt. “maybe you should just stick with that.”
  by lunch, we have a plan. by early afternoon, we are poised
  to carry it out. i help rue collect and place the wood for the
  first two campfires, the third she’ll have time for on her own.
  we decide to meet afterward at the site where we ate our first
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  meal together. the stream should help guide me back to it. be-
  fore i leave, i make sure rue’s well stocked with food and
  matches. i even insist she take my sleeping bag, in case it’s not
  possible to rendezvous by nightfall.
  “what about you? won’t you be cold?” she asks.
  “not if i pick up another bag down by the lake,” i say. “you
  know, stealing isn’t illegal here,” i say with a grin.
  at the last minute, rue decides to teach me her mockingjay
  signal, the one she gives to indicate the day’s work is done. “it
  might not work. but if you hear the mockingjays singing it,
  you’ll know i’m okay, only i can’t get back right away.”
  “are there many mockingjays here?” i ask.
  “haven’t you seen them? they’ve got nests everywhere,”
  she says. i have to admit i haven’t noticed.
  “okay, then. if all goes according to plan, i’ll see you for
  dinner,” i say.
  unexpectedly, rue throws her arms around me. i only hesi-
  tate a moment before i hug her back.
  “you be careful,” she says to me.
  “you, too,” i say. i turn and head back to the stream, feeling
  somehow worried. about rue being killed, about rue not be-
  ing killed and the two of us being left for last, about leaving
  rue alone, about leaving prim alone back home. no, prim has
  my mother and gale and a baker who has promised she won’t
  go hungry. rue has only me.
  once i reach the stream, i have only to follow it downhill to
  the place i initially picked it up after the tracker jacker attack.
  i have to be cautious as i move along the water though, be-
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  cause i find my thoughts preoccupied with unanswered ques-
  tions, most of which concern peeta. the cannon that fired ear-
  ly this morning, did that signify his death? if so, how did he
  die? at the hand of a career? and was that in revenge for let-
  ting me live?