Chapter Fourteen
Feather scanned the area, narrowing his eyes. Almost hidden among the weeds by the base of the palisade, a small rat terrier cowered as if trying to escape his notice.
‘Peace, small friend,’ he mindspoke to it. He had yet to meet a rat terrier who did not hear his mindvoice. ‘Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm. Have you been locked out?’ Perhaps the creature had missed the curfew and was waiting to be let in again whenever these great gates should open.
The rat terrier moved a little at his words, showing itself though it came no closer. Although not as articulate as the canini, having never been modified to develop complex language, or indeed to have opposable thumbs, the rat terriers of the Settlement had often spoken privately with Feather. He rather thought that h
