The Hunger Games (Peeta's Point of View)

Chapter Twenty Four

"I don't- I don't understand."

      Katniss is captivated by the sight of Foxface's body being taken away. Then, slowly, she explains. "She was clever. Very clever. Earlier, back at the Cornucopia, I blew up the Career's food pile. But, before that, she managed to steal some. They set up some kind of complicated trap to stop other tributes taking the food, but she worked out how to get past it. She didn't take much, too little for anyone to notice, but enough to keep her alive."

      I begin to understand. "So, she needed more food."

      "Yes." Katniss still doesn't look at me. "She must have been desperate. So desperate, in fact, that she risked her life to take some of ours. I suppose it looked like we were going to eat those berries. So she wouldn't have thought they'd take her life."

      Another tribute. I've killed another. The fact it was accidental does not lessen the blow for me- and it definitely doesn't for Foxface and her family, either. That's if she had family. 

      "I wonder how she found us," I say, hollowly. "My fault, I guess, if I'm as loud as you say."

      "And she's very clever, Peeta. Well, she was. Until you outfoxed her."

      I don't need reminding of what I've done. I feel hurt that Katniss can even suggest that I may have done it deliberately. "Not on purpose. Doesn't seem fair somehow. I mean, we would have both been dead, too, if she hadn't eaten the berries first." No. I would be dead. Not Katniss. She knew, as soon as she saw them, that they weren't safe to eat. Her experience in the woods around our District lends her knowledge that is invaluable here. "No, of course, we wouldn't You recognised them, didn't you?"

      She nods. "We call them nightlock."

      I shudder. "Even the name sounds deadly. I'm sorry, Katniss." I look up, directing the apology to Foxface, too. "I really though they were the same ones you'd gathered."

      "Don't apologise. It just means we're one step closer to home, right?"

      I'll have to mimic her attitude: she'd right. One step closer to home. Now only Cato's left... "I'll get rid of the rest." I pick up the sheet of plastic in such a way that the berries are stuck inside, and find a bush to throw them into.

      "Wait!" I turn to see Katniss with a leather pouch in her hands. She takes some of the berries from the plastic. "If they fooled Foxface, maybe they can fool Cato as well." That's feasible. He may be strong, but he's certainly not the sharpest knife in the block. My hopes rise, just a little bit. "If he's chasing us or something, we can act like we accidentally drop the pouch and if he eats them-"

      "Then hello, District Twelve."

      "That's it." She sounds somewhat triumphant as she attaches the pouch to her belt.

      However, I cannot suppress the deep-rooted fear of Cato that I have. He's dangerous, even if he is stupid, and we can't afford to waste time. "He'll know where we are by now. If he was anywhere nearby and saw that hovercraft, he'll know we killed her and come after us."

      But Katniss says, "Let's make a fire. Right now." Dumbfounded, I only watch as she begins to gather up some tinder.

      "Are you ready to face him?" Because I don't think I am.

      "I'm ready to eat. Better to cook our food while we have the chance. If he knows we're here, he knows. But he also knows there's two of us and probably assumes we were hunting Foxface. That means you're recovered. And the fire means we're not hiding, we're inviting him here. Would you show up?"