The days that followed were fraught with tension, the camaraderie that had been growing among the travelers completely shattered. Brienne and Podrick were hurt at their exclusion from the information the others shared about the burned cottage and kept very much to themselves. Arya was still upset and rebuffed every attempt by Sansa to comfort her. And Sandor crawled into a shell, lagging behind the others and morosely silent even when spoken to. On the evening of the third day they spotted a river in the distance, and Sansa decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Tonight we're going fishing. All of us." Sansa looked around to see the reaction to her announcement and it was not encouraging. Brienne and Podrick showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm, Arya shrugged, and Sandor didn't seem to have heard her at all. "And the one who catches the fewest fish will have to clean the whole catch. Arya, that means you'll probably be stuck with a dirty job."
Her sister glared. "If anyone gets stuck, it'll be you or Brienne. I can never decide which one of you is worse at fishing."
Brienne said dryly, "I caught a pretty good fish last week."
Arya snorted. "Podrick getting a fish on the line and you netting it when he brings it in doesn't count."
"Yes, it does!" Podrick protested. "I could never have landed that big fish by myself, so my lady gets part of the credit."
Sansa fell back to ride beside Sandor and smiled at the big man. "They're starting to sound more like themselves, don't you think?" He just looked at her and she snapped, "You could say something, you know. I don't expect a brilliant conversation but when I talk to you and you don't say anything back, it hurts my feelings."
"What do you want me to say?" The Hound's voice sounded rusty with disuse but at least he was talking.
"Don't you think it's a good idea to go fishing?" Sansa looked hopefully at Sandor.
He nodded, she blew out her breath in exasperation, and he said dully, "You've already decided what we're going to do. Why even ask?"
"Sandor." She pulled up her horse and he turned Stranger around and stopped beside her. He waited patiently for her to speak and she thought of what she wanted to say to him-that she didn't blame him for what had happened at the cottage and he had brooded long enough, but he had already heard these things and it hadn't helped. "Will you put the worm on the hook for me?"
He looked surprised. "Don't I always?"
Sansa reached over and touched his hand. "Yes, you do. I can always count on you, can't I?"
The merest spark lit his eyes. "You can count on me, little bird."
Sansa nodded, satisfied, then kicked her horse into a trot, her heart soaring as Sandor kept up with her for the first time in days.