Chapter Twenty-Three
By now, everyone had packed, and people had moved into the hall.
The bus stood outside the front door, a bigger vehicle than the one that had brought us here.
We all climbed in. Nalya helped Larrana negotiate the steep stairs, Ayshada helped Ileyu climb in by pushing her backside and then Mereeni, Deyu and Thayu handed Zyana at the storage compartment all the bags and equipment so that they could be stowed underneath. We had accepted some of Clay’s camping gear: sleeping bags, emergency rations, and tarpaulins that could be fashioned into makeshift tents.
He’d wanted no payment for any of it. I wasn’t sure what arrangement he had with Amarru, but I was fairly certain he and his sisters had a close relationship with her and he either was an agent for the Exchange or
