Much of it was over land they’d scavenged for edible fruits and berries. The next three days weren’t too bad, either. They found plenty of edible plants and the food rule was easy to obey. No scavenger was ever permitted to take more than half of the available food. Something must always be left to reproduce in case the people came back this way again later. With only four mouths to feed, there was more than enough for them all to eat until their bellies were full each night. On the fifth day Raine’s sandal broke and although they tried knotting a strip of fabric around her foot to hold it on, the fabric frayed and fell off again and again. Raine tried walking with one bare foot but that was hopeless. She was limping in less than half an hour. “Watch for a safe place for us to stay the night. We’re going to have to make Raine a new sandal before she injures her foot badly,” Terah said. “How are we going to do that without any cured animal skin? We don’t even have a needle and thread,”
