"Door ain't open? Right, we're going."

"Ash, PLEASE."

"Maya, it's already real late, the sun's gone already, we've gotta find a safe place to sleep before we lose this light—those clouds up there look real bad too, we've gotta find somewhere sheltered."

"This house IS sheltered!"

"This house ain't gonna welcome us!"

"But ... but..."

Ashley glared at Maya as Maya looked sadly down at her hands, clasped together before her.

"Maya, I know you want things—"

Ashley stopped talking as she and Maya both turned; the door to the farmhouse was open. One of the women they'd spoken to earlier stood there, the brown-haired one with the pinched face.

"Pretty cold night," she said. "You two should get inside before you freeze to death."

"Thank you, ma'am," Maya said, her voice filled with relief and excitement. "I promise we won't be any trouble."

"Don't say stuff like that," Ashley muttered to her sister, as they walked inside and were guided to a sparse but warm room with a fireplace against one wall.

"Suppose you girls are hungry? We don't have much but—"

"Now, now, here we are, you girls sit by the fire and warm yourselves, my name's Patricia and this here is my grumpy sister Holly, here's some soup for each of you, mostly turnip and carrots but there's a little chicken in there as well, and here's a couple of biscuits each, now they're a little stale but then it's not a perfect world we live in, is it, goodness no, I'm sure you girls know that better than I do, and here's a mug of warm milk each—are you warm enough, dear? You're shivering an awful lot."

"I'm fine," said Maya, her big eyes bright. "Thank you."

"How about you, dear?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Ashley, her voice gruff. "Thanks."

"Eat up, then, don't be shy, I'm sorry that we don't have anything more filling, two growing girls like you need their food, I know, in any case I've made up a bed for you both, I hope you don't mind sharing, it was our father's bed, rest his soul, is the soup all right? It doesn't need heating?"

"It's delicious," said Maya, smiling at Patricia between spoonfuls of the soup. "I can't remember eating anything nicer."

"Well," said Patricia, with a glance back at her sister, who rolled her eyes, "isn't that lovely to hear. You girls just enjoy that food, don't rush yourselves, there's more soup if you want it, don't be scared to ask, no more biscuits I'm sorry to say, now why don't you tell me, where are you two from?"

"Unity," said Maya, through a mouthful of biscuit. She swallowed. "It's to the south."

"Oh, I know where Unity is, dear!" said Patricia, laughing. "Most people would, even all the way out here! And it is a long way from here, goodness."

Ashley shot her sister a look as she slurped up her soup. Maya was nodding, her face earnest.

"It's really far," she said. "We haven't been back there for a long time, maybe more than a year!"

"Goodness, that long! Your parents must be worried!"

Ashley scowled into her soup, while Maya simply looked sad.

"Maybe," Maya said, looking away, putting down her bowl of soup and picking up the mug of milk. Holly cleared her throat.

"My sister's not going to thank me for asking this," she said, ignoring Patricia's glaring, "but I'm going to ask anyway. Are you girls in some kind of trouble?"

Ashley finished her bowl of soup and put it down on the hearth with a sharp clink. She looked straight at Holly.

"Not right now," she said. Holly raised her eyebrows.

"How'd you get that cut in your side?" she asked. Ashley shook her head and Holly sighed. "I'd say you owe us some honesty, seeing as we're being kind enough to shelter you for the night."

"Holly, you don't need to be—"

"No." Ashley looked at Patricia, her young face set. "It's okay. It's a sword wound. I got cut a few days ago. It's not serious, though, I've ... I'm not ... it's not serious."

"You've had worse, is that what you were going to say?" Holly asked. Ashley shook her head, then picked up a biscuit and gnawed on the edge. "Did you do anything to deserve that cut?"

Ashley shook her head again and put down the biscuit. "I was just protecting my sister," she said quietly.

"That how you got those big tough hands? Protecting your sister?"

"Holly. You're being rude."

Holly glanced at her sister, then shook her head and turned away.

"Don't cause trouble while you're here," she said, without looking at Ashley and Maya. "You can finish your food and stay the night, but tomorrow morning you're gone, you hear me? And if you're thinking of robbing us just remember that you, young lady, are not the only one with a sister to protect. Understand me?"

"We're not thieves," Ashley said. Holly glanced back at her.

"Funny thing," she said. "But there aren't a lot of thieves who'd admit to being one. Mind you don't bleed on the sheets."

Ashley watched Holly walk out of the room, then looked at Patricia.

"We're really not thieves," she said.

"Oh, of course you aren't, don't pay any attention to her. You've just had a run of bad luck, I'd imagine."

Ashley's jaw clenched. "Yeah," she said. "Something like that."