第77章
could the
cannon shot announcing her death have come in the wee
hours of the morning when even my good ear was too broken
to pick it up? will she appear in the sky tonight? no, i refuse to
believe it. there could be a hundred other explanations. she
could have lost her way. run into a pack of predators or
another tribute, like thresh, and had to hide. whatever hap-
pened, i’m almost certain she’s stuck out there, somewhere
between the second fire and the unlit one at my feet. some-
thing is keeping her up a tree.
i think i’ll go hunt it down.
it’s a relief to be doing something after sitting around all af-
ternoon. i creep silently through the shadows, letting them
conceal me. but nothing seems suspicious. there’s no sign of
any kind of struggle, no disruption of the needles on the
ground. i’ve stopped for just a moment when i hear it. i have
to cock my head around to the side to be sure, but there it is
again. rue’s four-note tune coming out of a mockingjay’s
mouth. the one that means she’s all right.
i grin and move in the direction of the bird. another just a
short distance ahead, picks up on the handful of notes. rue
228
has been singing to them, and recently. otherwise they’d have
taken up some other song. my eyes lift up into the trees,
searching for a sign of her. i swallow and sing softly back, hop-
ing she’ll know it’s safe to join me. a mockingjay repeats the
melody to me. and that’s when i hear the scream.
it’s a child’s scream, a young girl’s scream, there’s no one in
the arena capable of making that sound except rue. and now
i’m running, knowing this may be a trap, knowing the three
careers may be poised to attack me, but i can’t help myself.
there’s another high-pitched cry, this time my name. “katniss!
katniss!”
“rue!” i shout back, so she knows i’m near. so, they know
i’m near, and hopefully the girl who has attacked them with
tracker jackers and gotten an eleven they still can’t explain
will be enough to pull their attention away from her. “rue! i’m
coming!”
when i break into the clearing, she’s on the ground, hope-
lessly entangled in a net. she just has time to reach her hand
through the mesh and say my name before the spear enters
her body.
229
the boy from district 1 dies before he can pull out the
spear. my arrow drives deeply into the center of his neck. he
falls to his knees and halves the brief remainder of his life by
yanking out the arrow and drowning in his own blood. i’m re-
loaded, shifting my aim from side to side, while i shout at rue,
“are there more? are there more?”
she has to say no several times before i hear it. rue has
rolled to her side, her body curved in and around the spear. i
shove the boy away from her and pull out my knife, freeing
her from the net. one look at the wound and i know it’s far
beyond my capacity to heal, beyond anyone’s probably. the
spearhead is buried up to the shaft in her stomach. i crouch
before her, staring helplessly at the embedded weapon.
there’s no point in comforting words, in telling her she’ll be
all right. she’s no fool. her hand reaches out and i clutch it like
a lifeline. as if it’s me who’s dying instead of rue.
“you blew up the food?” she whispers.
“every last bit,” i say.
“you have to win,” she says.
“i’m going to. going to win for both of us now,” i promise. i
hear a cannon and look up. it must be for the boy from district
1.
230
“don’t go.” rue tightens her grip on my hand.
“course not. staying right here,” i say. i move in closer to
her, pulling her head onto my lap. i gently brush the dark,
thick hair back behind her ear.
“sing,” she says, but i barely catch the word.
sing?