At first Sella was just annoyed. So like Menolly to be absent when needed. Mavi was a good deal too lenient with the child. Well, if she’d not been in the Hold in the morning, she’d been caught out in the Thread. And that served her right.

Then Sella wasn’t so sure. She began to feel the first vestige of fright. If Menolly had been out during Threadfall, surely there’d be ... something ... left that Thread couldn’t eat.

Gulping back nausea at that thought, she sought out her brother, Alemi, who was in charge of the flamethrowers.

“Alemi, you didn’t see anything ... unusual ... when you were ground checking?”

“What do you mean by ‘unusual’?”

“You know, traces ... ”

“Of what? I’ve no time now for riddles, Sella.”

“I mean, if someone were caught out during Thread-fall, how would you know?”

“Whatever are you tacking around?”

“Menolly’s nowhere in the Hold, or the Dock, or anywhere. She wasn’t on any of the teams ... ”

Alemi frowned. “No, she wasn’t, but I thought Mavi needed her in the Hold for something.”

“She’s not there! And none of the aunties remember seeing her this morning. And the Hold doors were unbarred!”

.     “You think Menolly left the Hold early?” Alemi realized that a strong, tall girl like Menolly could very easily have managed the door bars.

“You know how she’s been since she hurt her hand: creeping away every chance she gets.”

Alemi did know, for he was fond of his gawky sister, and he particularly missed her singing. He didn’t share Yanus’s reservations about Menolly’s ability. And he didn’t honestly agree with Yanus’s decision to keep knowledge of it from the Harper, especially now that there was a Harper in the Hold to keep her in line.

“Well?” Sella’s prompting irritated him out of his thoughts.

“I saw nothing unusual.”

“Would there be something? If Thread did get her?”

Alemi gave Sella a long hard look. She sounded as if she’d be glad if Menolly did get Threaded.

“There’d be nothing left if she’d been caught by Thread. But no Thread got through the Benden wings.”

With that he turned on his heel and left his sister, mouth agape. His reassurance was curiously no consolation to Sella. However, since Menolly was so obviously missing, Sella could take some pleasure in informing Mavi of this fact, adding her theory that Menolly had committed the enormous crime of leaving the Hold doors unbarred,

“Menolly?” Mavi was handing out sea salt and spice-root to the head cook when Sella imparted her news. “Menolly?”

“Yes, Menolly. She’s gone. Not been seen, and she’s the one left the Hold doors unbarred. With Thread falling!”

“Thread wasn’t falling when Yanus discovered the doors open.” Mavi corrected Sella mechanically. She shuddered at the thought of anyone, even a recalcitrant daughter, caught out in the silvery rain of Thread.