Olga was a scary sight. There were plenty of twigs and leaves and grass stalks in her hair, and her face was smudged with dirt and blood. But she was grinning triumphantly, and her string bag was full of what looked like grass.
Li Yang and Jake were struck dumb. Olga walked up to them, holding one hand behind her back, and Li Yang felt himself become apprehensive about what she might be holding in that hand.
Olga stopped a step away from Jake, and said:
"Look what I got."
And she held out what had been hidden behind her back, in fact pushed it right into Jake's face.
She was holding a bunch of small birds by their necks, a big bunch: Li Yang thought there must be at least a dozen. None of them were bigger than his fist, but taken together they just might add up to half a standard, supermarket chicken.
"Wow," Jake said. "How did you do that?"
"I told you she was collecting stones," Li Yang said.
