"There was one horse, but ridden. It came here from the and it had been hard, going lame. There was a here, maybe after dawn." Travis out what they had learned by a of the ground.
Nalik'ideyu and Naginlta, Tsoay, and as if the as well as the boy every word.
"There is that also—" Tsoay the one left by the unknown rider, an as if some attempt had been to it.
"Small and light, the is both. Also in fear, I think—"
"We follow?" Tsoay asked.
"We follow," Travis assented. He looked to the coyotes, and as he had learned to do, out his message. This was the one to be followed. When the was they were to report if the Apaches had not yet up.
There was no visible agreement; the through the of grass.
"Then there are others here," Tsoay said as he and Travis their return to the foothills. "Perhaps there was a second ship—"
"That horse," Travis said, his head. "There was no in the project for the of horses."
"Perhaps they have always been here."
"Not so. To each world its own of beasts. But we shall know the truth when we look upon that horse—and its rider."
It was this of the mountains, and the of the at them. Travis that the might well be water if allowed his head. Where did he come from? And why had his gone in and fear?
This was rough, country and the tired, to have the way through it, without any from the man with him. Travis a soft of ground with a deep-set impression. This time there had been no attempt at erasure; the was plain. The had and was leading the horse—yet he was moving swiftly.
They the around the of a cut and Nalik'ideyu waiting for them. Between her was a still with of soft earth, and her were marks from a under the of a bush. The had just her find. Travis to it, using his his hands.
It was a of hide, the of one of the by its color and the of long which had been left in a along the bottom. The had been together by someone used to in leather, the with loops.
As the Apache closer to it he a mixture of odors—the itself, horse, smoke, and other scents—strange to him. He the and out the contents.
There was a shirt, with long full sleeves, of a from the sheep. Then a very jacket which, after it doubtfully, Travis was of felt. It was with embroidery, and there was no the design—a Terran deer in with what might be a puma. It was with a pattern of beautiful, familiar work. Travis it over his and to where he had its like ... a book! An in a book! But which book, when? Not recently, and it was not a pattern to his own people.
Twisted into the of the jacket was a scarf, clear, light blue—the of Terra's on days, so different from the yellow now above them. A small case of leather, with designs cut from and to it, designs as and as the on the jacket—art of a high standard. In the case a knife and spoon, the bowl and of metal, the of with heads, the wide-open set with stones.
Personal dear to the owner, so that when they must be for they were with some of recovery. Travis slowly them, trying to the into their original creases. He was still puzzled by those designs.
"Who?" Tsoay touched the of the jacket with one finger, his for it plain to read.
"I don't know. But it is of our own world."
"That is a deer, though the are wrong," Tsoay agreed. "And the is very well done. The one who this animals well."
Travis pushed the jacket into the and it shut. But he did not return it to the place. Instead, he it a part of his own pack. If they did not succeed in the fugitive, he wanted an opportunity for closer study, a to just where he had that picture before.
The narrow where they had the upward, and there were that their the ground to cover. The second in open sight—again a leather which Nalik'ideyu and then to eagerly, her nose into its interior.
Travis it up, it to the touch. It had an odd smell, like that of milk. He ran a around inside, it out wet; yet this was neither water canteen. And he was when he it out, for though the surface was wet, the was empty. He offered it to the coyote, and she took it promptly.
Holding it to the earth with her forepaws, she the surface, though Travis see no deposit which might her. It was clear that the had once some of food.
"Here they rested," Tsoay said. "Not too ahead now—"
But now they were in the of country where a man in order to check on his trail. Travis the and then his own plans. They would the marked of the fugitive, out to the east and try to the other's route. In that of and there was going.
Nalik'ideyu gave a last to the as Travis her. She him, then her to survey the country them. At last she on, her melting into the vegetation. With Naginlta she would the and keep watch, the men to take the longer way around.
Travis off his shirt, it into a packet and it the of his sash-belt, just as his had always done a fight. Then he his pack and Tsoay's. As they the climb they only their bows, the on their shoulders, and the long-bladed knives. But they like and, like the coyotes, their red-brown against the of the land.
They should be, Travis judged, not more than an hour away from sundown. And they had to the the dark closed in. His respect for their had grown. The unknown might have been by fear, but he to a good and for just the of country which would him best. If Travis only where he had the like of that embroidery! It had a meaning which might be now....
Tsoay a wind-gnarled tree and disappeared. Travis under a line of limbs. Both were their way south, using the ahead as an landmark, at to the for any hint of a man and horse.
Travis fashion into an opening two and there, the sun on his and back, his on his forearm. In the his he had some of grass, the ends of which over his features.
Only he had that from one of the coyotes. What they was very close, it was right there. Both animals were in ambush, orders. And what they was familiar, another that the was Terran, not native to Topaz.
With eyes, Travis the site by the coyotes. His respect for the was another notch. In time either he or Tsoay might have that without the of the animal scouts; on the other hand, they might have failed. For the had gone to earth, using some pocket or in the wall.
There was no of the horse, but a branch here and there had been out of place, the of their when one where to look. Odd, Travis to puzzle over what he saw. It was almost as if the would come not at ground level but from above; the the had taken were to his to the of the side.
Had he any to make a move from up that where the Apaches now lay? Travis' teeth the skin of his forearm. Could it be that at some time the day's the had back, having his trackers? But there had been no of any such scouting, and the would surely have them. Human and ears be tricked, but Travis the of Naginlta and Nalik'ideyu above his own.
No, he did not that the the Apaches. But the man did someone or something which would come upon him from the heights. The heights.... Travis rolled his to look at the upper of the about him—with suspicion.
In their own across the and through the pass they had nothing threatening. Dangerous animals might there. There had been some marks, one such the had against. But the type of the had taken were against intelligent, beings, not against animals more likely to by than by sight.
And if the an attack from above, then Travis and Tsoay must be alert. Travis each of the hillside, setting in his mind a picture of every of ground they must cross. Just as he had wanted as an before, so now was he to wait for the of twilight.
He closed his in a final check, able to the of the place, that he it when the favored, without mistake. Then he from his point, and his to his lips, a small angry chittering, three times repeated. One of the these heights, as they had noted earlier, was a about as big as the of a man's hand, nothing so much as a of feathers, though its might actually have been a silky, fur. Its ground at an speed, and it had the of a with natural enemies. This was its cry.
Tsoay's hand Travis on to where the man had taken position the of a tree.
"He hides," Tsoay whispered.
"Against trouble from above." Travis added his own observation.
"But not us, I think."
So Tsoay had come to that too? Travis to the of twilight. There was a period after the of Topaz' sun when the light played odd with shadows. That would be the time for their move. He said as much, and Tsoay eagerly. They sat with their to a boulder, the tree as a screen, and on tablets. There was energy and in the which would support men, though their to the of fresh meat.
Taking turns, they a little. But the last of Topaz' sun were still in the sky when Travis the enough. He had no way of how the was armed. Though he used a for transportation, he might well a and the most modern Terran sidearms.
The Apaches' were little use for infighting, but they had their knives. However, Travis wanted to take the if he could. There was he must have. So he did not his knife as he started downhill.
When he a of at the of the small Naginlta's him knowingly. Travis with his hand and out what would be the coyotes' part in this attack. The prick-eared vanished. Uphill the of a fluff-fur twice—Tsoay was in position.
A ... ... ... was heard, one of the of the mba'a. Travis forward. He the of a horse, a which have marked the of on gravel, saw the the stranger's tremble, a of it away.
Travis on, his making no on the ground. One of the gave for the second time, the to a which from the about them. Travis for a dive.
Another of those had way and a reared, its marked against the sky. A and it, trying to the mount. The had his hands full, no drawn—this was it!
Travis leaped. His hands their mark, the of the stranger. There was a from the other as he to turn in the Apache's hold, to his attacker. But Travis them on, almost under the of the horse, downhill, the unknown's by the Apache's weight and his clasp, tight as an iron grip, about the other's and upper arms.
He his go limp, but was not to that hold, for the of the was not that of an man. They so, the unknown still tight in Travis' but no longer fighting. The Apache Tsoay the with the of a horseman.
Still the did not the struggle. They not in this position all night, Travis with a of amusement. He his hold, and got the lightning-quick response he had expected. But it was not quick enough, for Travis had the other's hands his back, slender, almost together.
"Throw me a cord!" he called to Tsoay.
The man ran up with an cord, and in a moment they had on the captive. Travis rolled their catch over, for a of to the into a of light.
In his that came loose, a unwinding. He as he looked into the stranger's face. Dust marks were now with tear runnels, but the which on him said that their owner more in than fear.
His might be long into curved, boots, and a overblouse, but she was not only a woman, but a very and one. Also, at the present moment, an angry one. And that anger was fear, the of one against odds. But as she Travis now her changed.
He she had another and was at the of him. Her touched her lips, them, and now the in her was another kind—the of one a totally new and thing.
"Who are you?" Travis spoke in English, for he had no that she was Terran.
Now she in her with a of pure astonishment.
"Who are you?" she his question in a marked accent. English was not her native tongue, he was sure.
Travis out, and again his hands closed on her shoulders. She started to and then he was her up to a position. Some of the had left her eyes, an taking its place.
"You are not Sons of the Blue Wolf," she in her speech.
Travis smiled. "I am the Fox, not the Wolf," he returned. "And the Coyote is my brother." He his at the shadows, and the two animals came into sight. Her more at Naginlta and Nalik'ideyu, and she the which must her and the beasts.
"This woman is also of our world." Tsoay spoke in Apache, looking over their with interest. "Only she is not of the People."
Sons of the Blue Wolf? Travis again of the designs on the jacket. Who had called themselves by that title—where—and when in time?
"What do you fear, Daughter of the Blue Wolf?" he asked.
And with that question he to touch some terror. She her so that she see the sky.
"The flyer!" Her voice was as if more than a would to the just into above them. "They will come ... tracking. I did not the in time."
There was a note in that which cut through to Travis, who that he, too, was the sky, not what he looked for or what of it promised, only that it was danger.
