Yala eats ravenously. Unfortunately, even porridge is too much for her stomach after so many days of fasting, and she throws up most of her breakfast into the bushes soon after.

Eventually, everyone gets on the road. The living oxen flag quickly; all but the slowest pace and lightest load seems to make them worse. Yala nurses a piece of dried fruit and attempts to make small talk about the weather.

Around noon, a few hours out from Sael, a pair of tumblers come down the road. The two lithe women perform acrobatics and hand out woodcut flyers to the travelers ahead of the party. When they get close enough to see the party, they stop and elbow each other.

"Edric?" says one.

"Punchy?" says the other.

"Is that you?" they say in unison.

Zaljan walks behind the carts. He does tell Greenleaf to have a look at the still-living oxen, though.

Punchy perks up, all grins.

"Gels!"

He embraces them both, one leg from each in an arm, in a hug.

"Ye dinnae have any beer do ye?"

He's practically pleading.

Edric is less enthusiastic to see the girls, but he does manage a smile. "How are you Flora? Fauna?" He remains where he is with his oatmeal in hand. "Are you alone?"

"Yes," says Fauna, just as Flora says, "No."

They look at each other, frowning. "We do have beer, lots of it," Fauna continues doggedly. "It's back at the tents."

"Never better," announces Fauna, "and boy am I glad I found you! I win!"

Flora gently extricates them both from Punchy's hug. "Fauna, would you be a love and keep going up the road?" She hands over her stack of flyers. "I want to talk to the boys for a minute."

"Don't forget to tell them--"

"Of course not. There's a good girl. Off you go."

Fauna, with much gyrating and limber exhibitionism, continues on past the party to the next set of travelers.

Flora watches her sister go, and then turns back to Edric and crosses her arms. "We're not alone, no," she sighs. "What have you been getting yourself into, Red?"

Taddeo watches the tumblers with intent interest. Tumblers. Wow.

Punchy sidles up and puts a fist in Taddeo's ribs.

"They're verreh nice gels. And I'll break yer arms."

"Hey, Punchy. They're adults and I'm not Anthony. Back off."

He rubs his side.

Punchy grumbles what is as close to an apology as he is going to offer.

Edric is still favoring his left leg, but since he hasn't moved since the girls approached, they may not have noticed yet. "Just trying to make a living away from Professor Higgins. I won't be a strong man. I just won't." He smiles weakly at Flora, peering over her shoulder. "What about you?"

"Red!" Flora hisses, looking exasperated. "People are--" She stops as a couple of travelers ride past, looking at the group curiously, and indicates that they should move to the side of the road, in the semi-privacy of an oak tree's shade. "People are looking for you. Like, they're offering a reward." She looks from Edric to Punchy and back. "What did you do?"

Edric's brow furrows a bit in confusion. "What? Higgins wants me back that badly? All I did was run away!" He still hasn't moved, though.

"You bet that hat he wants to find you, so he can collect that reward money. He heard, I don't know how, that you were coming up to Cambárya. He sent a crew to do a show at the Summer Friendship Festival in Oak Hill, but we heard back the orc kid he sent to find you couldn't get you to bite. I thought for sure you'd gone to ground." She stands on tiptoes, peering down the road to make sure Fauna is still occupied -- she's currently a hundred yards away, doing the splits in front of a group of traveling mercenaries. "And then you show up here, practically right in Higgins's trap! Red, you know I love ya, but are you really this dumb?"

Zaljan interjects, "Be lookin' for shorty an' giant specifically, or all o' us?"

"I don't know," Flora admits. "Higgins was approached after a show by some guy, and they had a meeting, and then Higgins announced Edric had some money coming to him and we'd all get a bonus share of the loot if we tracked him down." She makes a face. "I thought the whole thing smelled fishier than the Alárya docks."