Read Earthseed for Free Online Page A

him,” she said softly, “but he did get us this far. I was sure we wouldn’t make it to the lake by now.”
    “We’ll take turns on watch,” Manuel said. Someone groaned. “We have to be careful. I’ll take the first turn with Jorge. Who wants the second?” A few voices volunteered. Manuel handed out the assignments, giving Zoheret and Gervais the last watch. “Yours is the most important,” he said to her. “As soon as it’s even a little lighter, we have to get up and start. We can eat while we walk—we shouldn’t run into any obstacles along the shore.”
    A few people were already bedding down, making beds of their ponchos and pillows of their knapsacks. Others were relieving themselves in the darkness just beyond the fire’s light. Zoheret got up and found a spot near a tree.
    She looked around, then squatted, grateful for the dark. She finished quickly and crept back toward the lake. Robert was banking the fire; the glow made his red hair gold.
    A dark shape suddenly loomed in front of her; she backed away. “Zoheret.” It was Manuel’s voice. “Sit with me for a while.”
    “You’re supposed to be on watch.”
    “Jorge can take care of things. Besides, you can watch with me.”
    “I have the last watch.”
    “You have all night to sleep. You won’t have to get up and then try to sleep again. I did you a favor.”
    “I’m tired.” She sat down anyway. A breeze whistled through the trees above them, then died. They were several paces from the group, hidden in the shadows on the edge of the shore.
    “Admit it,” Manuel said. “We’re doing well. If we’d listened to you, we wouldn’t have come this far.”
    “All right. I admit it.”
    “We were lucky with our team. We didn’t get stuck with any real losers except for Jennifer. Poor Ho. He got stuck with Willem and Anoki. That’ll slow him down.”
    “Willem’s strong.”
    “But he’s dumb. And Anoki—”
    “Anoki’s stronger than you think.”
    “He’s a cripple. Oh, I forgot—you’re his friend. Maybe you’re more than his friend.”
    “I’m not,” she said fiercely, and was suddenly ashamed of denying it so vehemently. “He’s just my friend, like Lillka. Sometimes he tutors me, that’s all.”
    “I believe you.” Manuel moved closer and put his arm around her.
    She froze, unable to move, and felt his breath on her face. He began to stroke her shoulder. “Take your hands off me.”
    “If you don’t want my arm there, then take it away.”
    She shoved his arm. He grabbed her waist with the other, forcing her on her back. His hand groped at her shirt. “You like me. You try to act like you don’t, but you do.” His lips found her cheek.
    She raised her arms and pushed against him as hard as she could. He rolled over; she heard him chuckle. She had wanted him to hold her; she had wanted to respond. She got to her feet, trembling.
    He said, “Another time.”
    She walked back to the fire and lay down on her poncho. She was angry and embarrassed, but with those feelings came another that she could not name. I hate you, she thought as she remembered the feel of his arm. The spot where his lips had touched her cheek still tickled.

    Someone was shaking her shoulder. Zoheret slapped the hand away and opened her eyes.
    “It’s Gervais,” a voice said. “Come on, it’s our turn.”
    Her muscles ached as she sat up. Her legs were stiff and sore. She rubbed her neck and groaned. “I feel awful.”
    “So do I. You’ll feel better after you move around.”
    Her head hurt and one of her feet was asleep. She got up and stamped on it, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, then picked up her poncho and put it on. The light, cottony fabric did not make her feel much warmer.
    She followed Gervais to the edge of the sand. “This is stupid,” she muttered to him. “We can’t see a thing. If there was any danger, we wouldn’t know until it was too late anyway.” She shivered.
    “I think it’s already