Ashaun nearly stepped on the beetle.
She had picked up Suth’s walking stick to use while checking the path. Something clicked near the handle. She stopped, turned the stick, and watched a long wooden leg unfold from a groove which Ysabet had taken for a split in the grain.
A second leg followed. Then four more.
Chaska came over carrying the cold pot.
For a moment nobody spoke.
The creature separated from the stick in a series of little jerks. Its body had been the carved swelling beneath the handle; its legs lay folded along the grain. When it dropped to the ground, the walking stick retained its shaft, curved grip, and a small hollow where the wooden body had nested.
It stood almost as high as Ysabet’s ankle.
Pip came out from beneath the shelter. Its eyes fixed on the little moving shape.
