Arya giggled as Sansa looked disconsolately at the pile of fish on the bank. Even Brienne had managed to catch a fish. It was so small they had thrown it back, but it was one more than Sansa had caught and now she was going to have to live up to her word and clean the whole catch. Brienne rode back to camp with Podrick with an unbearably smug expression on her face, and even Sandor seemed gratified by Sansa's predicament.
"I would offer to help you, little bird, if I weren't afraid of getting my eyes pecked out."
She shot him a black look. "All this time you have no sense of humor and this is the thing you choose to find amusing?"
Arya giggled, then assumed a grave expression as Sansa turned to her. "I'll help you with the fish, Sansa." She waved a hand in Sandor's direction. "And since you're useless, you can go back to camp and just wait until we're done."
Sandor swung into his saddle and made a courtly bow. "As you wish. Don't be too long, ladies."
He rode off and Sansa turned to Arya with indignation. "Was he laughing?"
Arya tested the edge of her knife and started on the biggest fish. "He never laughs. He may sneer from time to time, but he never laughs."
Sansa picked up a fish and copied Arya's swift movements, slitting its belly and pulling out the guts. She was sure she had heard a chuckle from the direction Sandor rode off in, but she was soon too busy to think about it. The sisters worked steadily, gutting the fish and cleaning them off in the river, and the sun was just starting its descent when they started back to the camp.
"I will never get the smell of fish off my hands," moaned Sansa, sniffing her fingers.
Arya frowned. "Sansa, be quiet."
"Don't tell me to be quiet." The tall redhead glared at her sister, then jumped, startled, as Arya cut her off and grabbed the reins of her horse. "What is it?" she whispered.
Arya held up a hand and then Sansa heard it too-shouting and the clashing of blades coming from the direction of the camp. She tried to wrench her reins back from Arya and her sister pulled on them, wheeling both horses around and taking them into a thicket. She slid to the ground, tying the horses to a tree and motioning to her sister to get down.
Sansa dismounted slowly, then whispered, "What's happening?"
"I don't know." Arya took a deep breath. "I'm going to go take a look. Wait here-I'll be right back."
"I'm not staying here by myself."
Arya rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can come, but you have to be quiet, Sansa."
The redhead nodded and the two girls crept closer to the camp, finally stopping behind some tangled brambles that hid them from view. Sansa clapped a hand across her mouth to hold back a cry of horror. Brienne and Podrick were on their knees with knives at their throats and the Hound lay face down, motionless, another man bringing a sword down on his unprotected back. Sansa closed her eyes-she couldn't bear to watch Sandor die, then opened them as she heard someone shout, "Stop!"
A fourth man, older than the others, marched across the clearing and knocked Sandor's assailant back. "I told you I wanted them all alive."
"Even dead, this one is worth three hundred silver stags." The younger man kicked the Hound in the side. "He's killed two of our men, Kern. Why keep him alive?"
For the first time Sansa saw the bodies lying across each other in front of Sandor, and she listened anxiously for Kern's response, which began with a hard blow across his subordinate's face. "You're a fool, Tomlin. In the first place, Sandor Clegane is worth five hundred silver stags if we deliver him alive. In the second place, we want the Stark girls. Do you see them anywhere? Clegane should know, if anyone does, where to find them."
"And you think he'll tell us?" Tomlin's voice was surly, but there was a note of deference in it.
Kern smiled unpleasantly. "I think if we ask him the right way, he'll tell us anything we want to know. Now get the horses."
The two sisters watched as the men tied Brienne and Podrick's hands and put them up on their horses. They approached Stranger to untie him and the horse stood quietly until he was loose, when he reared and struck at them, screaming. The men fell back before the enraged animal, and Stranger galloped off, snapping at Kern as he passed him.
The man blew out his breath in annoyance. "Put Clegane on Rory's horse. He won't be needing it anymore."
"We should be taking Rory's body back for a decent burial!" one of the men protested. The others murmured their agreement and Kern looked around slowly, smiling unpleasantly as they dropped their eyes. Only Tomlin held his gaze for a moment, then he too fell silent.
"When we get to Maidenpool, we'll send a couple of the townspeople to bring in the bodies. Right now I want to get these people under lock and key." He bent over and rolled the Hound on his back, then grabbed his hands and pulled him up. One of the men led a horse over, and together they heaved Sandor over the saddle, then tied his hands and lashed him down.
"What do you want to do with the supplies?" asked Tomlin.
Kern shrugged. "We'll have the townspeople bring it all back. Let's go."
They rode off and after they disappeared in the distance, Sansa and Arya cautiously emerged, staring around the ravaged camp in dismay. There was blood on the ground where Sandor had fallen, and Sansa blinked back tears. "What are we going to do, Arya?"
Her sister went to get their horses and started loading the supplies on them. "We're going to get out of here."
Sansa grabbed Arya's arm. "We can't just leave! We have to help them."
The younger girl wrenched herself free. "I'm open to suggestions but we don't even know where they were taken."
"Maidenpool."
"All right, Maidenpool." Arya sighed. "We can't just go into a strange town, Sansa. You heard those men-they're looking for us too. And they're sending people to bury the bodies." Her eyes flicked over the two corpses and Sansa swallowed hard as her sister continued. "We have to find a place to hide, then we can talk about what to do."
"So you're not just thinking of leaving Brienne and Podrick and...and Sandor behind?"
Arya looked at Sansa as if her sister had suddenly sprouted a second head. "Of course not. Sandor may be the worst shit in Westeros…"
"Arya." The tall redhead shook her head at her sister's language and the younger girl laughed.
"Still the perfect lady? All right, Sandor may be the worst man in Westeros, but he's the only friend we've got in the world. Brienne and Podrick…" Arya shrugged. "We might as well save them too, since they're probably locked up with Sandor."
Sansa hid a smile at the expression of worry under Arya's tough talk, and agreed that her sister was right.