Ox: Thresh Speaks

Finch and the Careers

“You’re not scared.”

That’s the first thing she said to me. Not even a hello. Even Rue had said hello as we were shaking hands, her little bird claw swamped by mine. I hadn’t said anything back and she’d nodded to herself and flitted off the stage.

I was keeping one eye out for her. I could see her hiding behind a pillar, but only because I knew she was there. She was peering around it at the pair from Twelve. Girl on fire. And boy on fire too. Not flaming now; they were talking. Just sat there talking to each other, and Rue was watching them. And I was stood just watching in a corner and the girl from Five had come and stood next to me, arms folded over her chest.

“Like the Careers,” she said, “They’re not scared either.”

She was watching the Careers. They weren’t watching anybody. They were stood by the weights, hoisting them up and down as though they were potatoes. Even the small girl with the snarl was throwing one of the little balls from one hand to the other. They were laughing at something. None of them were even as tall as me.

“They don’t have to be,” I replied.

She looked up at me, frowning. “They should be. There’s four of them. Unless they change the rules this year, they should be scared of each other.”

I just nodded. Clever girl, more so than the Careers anyway. If you’re too clever the Peacekeepers get you, grandmamma always said. Like my brother. And you don’t have to be clever to be strong. This girl, she wasn’t strong. She was as thin as a lot of the people back home. Her hair was this funny sort of orange colour and it was pulled right back from her face. And she had this look in her eyes like she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“You’re not scared,” she repeated, looking straight at me so that I looked away, back to Rue again, “You know you can do this, right?”

I’d not thought about it. I’d thought about grandmamma and Fennel back home, and about not scowling too much and about keeping an eye on Rue to make sure the Careers didn’t notice her. But even the boy from Two wasn’t as tall or as bulky as me. And I could go hungry.

“Yes,” I said.

“I can, too.”

At first I thought she was threatening me and almost let a small smile slip loose. She didn’t even come up to my shoulder. I could have snapped her neck with one hand. She looked at me again and laughed, except it didn’t sound like a laugh. It sounded more like a sort of bark.

“The little girl has made some friends,” she said, and pointed to Rue. For a moment I didn’t see what she was pointing at; Rue was still behind the pillar and nobody was near her. “Twelve,” the girl prompted. Then I saw it. They were stood together, talking quietly at the spear station. Fire girl had just thrown hers and it was sticking out of a dummy’s stomach, and they were both looking in that direction but they weren’t looking at it. They kept glancing at Rue. Rue didn’t seem to have noticed or care.

“She’s been trailing them,” the girl said, “And the Careers have been watching you.”

This startled me into speech; I’d hoped to stand in a corner and not be noticed by them. “Have they?”

“They think you’ll be a good ally, but if I were you I wouldn’t go for it. As soon as your back is turned, they would go for you. I’ve been watching them.”

It sounded like she’d been watching everybody. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t noticed her taking part in any of the other stations either. In fact, even with such distinctive hair, I hadn’t noticed her at all.