Rain began before they had crossed the next gap.
It fell in large separate drops at first, striking leaves high overhead. Pip flinched at every impact. By the time the sound became continuous, it was walking crookedly, placing its feet as though the ground rose under one side.
Ysabet stopped beneath an overhang of roots.
Suth knelt beside her and pulled the dry moss free of its wrapping. Her fingers were clumsy. She dropped half the bundle into the wet leaves.
“I have it,” Ysabet said.
She gathered the clean part. Suth remained kneeling long after the task required it.
Chaska rigged a small roof with her groundsheet and two pieces of fallen wood. Lilt tucked herself beneath the wider spread of a trunk, where the rain ran around rather than over her. Ashaun checked the slope above them for moving roots before sitting.
Pip put its head into Ysabet’s lap.
