i asked.
the man shrugged. “hang around and see.” i turned and
saw rooba coming across the square toward us. “lucky thing
you showed up,” said the goat man when she arrived. “girl’s
got her eye on your goat.”
“not if she’s spoken for,” i said carelessly.
rooba looked me up and down then frowned at the goat.
“she’s not. look at that shoulder. bet you half the carcass will
be too rotten for even sausage.”
“what?” said the goat man. “we had a deal.”
“we had a deal on an animal with a few teeth marks. not
that thing. sell her to the girl if she’s stupid enough to take
her,” said rooba. as she marched off, i caught her wink.
the goat man was mad, but he still wanted that goal off his
hands. it took us half an hour to agree on the price. quite a
crowd had gathered by then to hand out opinions. it was an
267
excellent deal if the goat lived; i’d been robbed if she died.
people took sides in the argument, but i took the goat.
gale offered to carry her. i think he wanted to see the look
on prim’s face as much as i did. in a moment of complete gid-
diness, i bought a pink ribbon and tied it around her neck.
then we hurried back to my house.
you should have seen prim’s reaction when we walked in
with that goat. remember this is a girl who wept to save that
awful old cat, buttercup. she was so excited she started crying
and laughing all at once. my mother was less sure, seeing the
injury, but the pair of them went to work on it, grinding up
herbs and coaxing brews down the animal’s throat.
“they sound like you,” says peeta. i had almost forgotten he
was there.
“oh, no, peeta. they work magic. that thing couldn’t have
died if it tried,” i say. but then i bite my tongue, realizing what
that must sound like to peeta, who is dying, in my incompe-
tent hands.
“don’t worry. i’m not trying,” he jokes. “finish the story.”
“well, that’s it. only i remember that night, prim insisted on
sleeping with lady on a blanket next to the fire. and just be-
fore they drifted off, the goat licked her cheek, like it was giv-
ing her a good night kiss or something,” i say. “it was already
mad about her.”
“was it still wearing the pink ribbon?” he asks.
“i think so,” i say. “why?”
“i’m just trying to get a picture,” he says thoughtfully. “i can
see why that day made you happy.”
268
“well, i knew that goat would be a little gold mine,” 1 say.
“yes, of course i was referring to that, not the lasting joy
you gave the sister you love so much you took her place in the
reaping,” says peeta drily.
“the goat has paid for itself. several times over,” i say in a
superior tone.
“well, it wouldn’t dare do anything else after you saved its
life,” says peeta. “i intend to do the same thing.”
“really? what did you cost me again?” i ask.
“a lot of trouble. don’t worry. you’ll get it all back,” he says.
“you’re not making sense,” i say. i test his forehead. the
lever’s going nowhere but up. “you’re a little cooler though.”
the sound of the trumpets startles me. i’m on my feet and
at the mouth of the cave in a flash, not wanting to miss a sylla-
ble. it’s my new best friend, claudius templesmith, and as i
expected, he’s inviting us to a feast. well, we’re not that hun-
gry and i actually wave his offer away in indifference when he
says, “now hold on. some of you may already be declining my
invitation. but this is no ordinary feast. each of you needs
something desperately.”
i do need something desperately. something to heal peeta’s
leg.
“each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked
with your district number, at the cornucopia at dawn. think
hard about refusing to show up. for some of you, this will be
your last chance,” says claudius.
269
there’s nothing else, just his words hanging in the air. i
jump as peeta grips my shoulder from behind. “no,” he says.
“you’re not risking your life for me.”
“who said i was?”
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