Book One of the Travelers Read Free

brilliant idea, sending those two groups of gars in opposite directions. The tangs took the bait.”
    Seegen looked at Kasha. “The gars were killed?”
    Kasha shrugged. “Some were. Some usually are.”
    â€œYou chose to sacrifice the gars as a fighting strategy?” Seegen asked.
    Kasha didn’t understand her father’s reaction. He knew what was required when foraging. Survival was never a sure thing for any of the participants—gar or klee. Kasha felt her fur bristle. “Gars are killed during forages. So are klees. Tangs do not discriminate. We’re all meat to them.”
    Boon must have been surprised by Seegen’s question as well.
    â€œKasha’s quick thinking saved us—,” Boon began.
    â€œAnd gars,” Kasha pointed out.
    â€œAnd protected most of the harvest,” Boon finished.
    â€œYes, yes. That is all to the good,” Seegen said. “I suppose I am just always troubled by the bloodshed.”
    â€œTell it to the tangs,” Kasha said flatly. She tapped the table with her paw.
    â€œI am sure you did what you thought was right,” Seegen said. “I know how seriously you take your work.”
    Kasha nodded, but that flush of pleasure she’d felt only a moment before had evaporated.
    â€œHello?” A large, elderly klee entered the tree house. His long fur had turned gray with age, and he moved carefully.
    â€œYorn! Come in! You are just in time for dinner!” Seegen greeted his old friend.
    â€œFunny, he seems to always arrive around this time,” Boon whispered to Kasha.
    â€œJust like you,” Kasha teased. “Somehow you always appear in time for a meal!”
    â€œBoon and Kasha were just telling me about today’s forage,” Seegen said.
    â€œAhhh,” Yorn said, taking a seat at the table. “Many losses?”
    â€œKasha kept down the casualties,” Boon said before Seegen or Kasha could respond. “Durgen was very impressed.”
    â€œYou do Leeandra a great service,” Yorn told Kasha. “But I would expect nothing less from Seegen’s daughter. Perhaps she, too, will have a seat on the council some day.”
    Kasha looked at her father with excitement. “You’re going to be named to the Council of Klee?”
    Seegen smiled. “Nothing is certain, but there has been some talk.”
    â€œBe assured, Seegen,” Yorn said. “It will happen. Who is more deserving? Why, you practically built Leeandra all on your own. From hollowing out the enormous trees in order to build the elevators to designing the rail system that runs alongside the sky bridges.”
    Seegen shook his head with a grin. “You give me too much credit.”
    â€œHe’s right,” Kasha said. “This is an honor that should have come to you ages ago.”
    â€œI have been honored simply by the talk,” Seegen said. “From the beginning I believed in Leeandra. That is why I did all I could to help it grow and thrive. I still do. We have a great future ahead of us.”
    â€œI believe in dinner,” Boon declared. “Dinner would be a great future.” His brown snout wrinkled as he sniffed. His whiskers twitched. “And from the smell of things, that future is now.”
    â€œI’ll get the food,” Kasha said. “Or Boon may go tang on us!”
    Boon growled and bared his teeth. He lunged for Kasha, but she neatly sidestepped him. Boon sprawled on the floor, laughing.
    Kasha shook her head. Sometimes she wondered whether Boon was ever serious about anything! Still, he was a good friend, and she knew he would always have her back. And she knew he felt the same way about her.
    â€œCome on, scary beast.” Kasha held out her paw to help Boon up.
    â€œYes,” Yorn said with a smile. “Let us old folks talk a bit. You two have too much energy for me. You’re tiring me out just watching you!”
    Boon and Kasha padded