'A miracle,' he pronounced, blinded by the water in his eyes and
in his heart. 'The tiger has come back.' It lumbered in woozily,
and he closed the door behind it.
Chapter 27
Thus began a period of relative calm for the reshaped company. Slowly
the tiger's wounds healed, and slowly, as he became wiser and more
proficient at setting them, Kalus' traps became more productive. The
reserves were emptied and there was never much to spare. Their
existence was strictly one day at a time, and face tomorrow when it
comes. But what was absolutely needed, the bare-bone necessities, were
through constant effort and exertion, one way or another obtained.
And though Winter was hardly on the wane, neither could it increase or
outdo the storms it had already hurled against them. The fortress they
had made of Skither's cave, as well as the yet dearer fortresses of
mind and body, continued to withstand and endure. And their collective
will remained unvanquished.
And in late afternoons and evenings, when the day's work was done and
nothing more could be bought by their labors, there was time for
reading, conversation and quiet thought. The tiger, once it learned it
was free to do so, often went out into the night, if only to rest just
beyond the safety of the lair; and this, along with Akar's absence,
left a natural void which must be filled with more human pursuits.
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