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Dewara gave a grudging nod Then he said, "Her naet on, she knows obey you You don’t tell name, she knows you are not allowed All my horses are so This way" He turned to one of the other taldi "Dedem Stand"

The beast he spoke to put his ears forward and came to meet Dewara The Plainsman mounted the round-bellied stallion casually "Follow," he said, and slapped his ani out in an instant gallop I stared in surprise, and then copied hi Keeksha a slap that set her into Keeksha’sdoll tied to a dog’s tail Every tiround, my spine was jolted in a different direction Twice I was sure I was going to hit the ground, but theherself back under me The second time she did it, I abruptly decided to trust her I shiftedinto her stride, and suddenly we ed forward and I felt that we al in the distance, headed away from the river and into the wastelands that borderedThe land rose there, the rocky hillsides cut by steep-sided gullies prone to sudden flooding during storray-green leaves grew from cracks in the rocks carpeted with dull purple lichen The hooves of hisin the air for me to breathe Dewara kept his horse at a dead run across country where I never would have risked Sirlofty I followed him, sure that soon he must rein in his mount and let the animal breathe, but he did not

My little her country, cliion, it was harder to keep them in constant view Hollows and mounds rumpled the plain like a rucked blanket I suspected he was deliberately trying to lose me, and set my teeth, resolved that he would not I well knew that one misplaced step could break both our necks, but I h her sides heaved with her effort, she did not slow on her own She followed the stallion’s lead Her rolling gait ate up the , in the aled onto the plateau country The flats gave way to tall outcroppings of red or white rock in the distance Scattered trees, stunted and twisted by the constant wind and the erratic rains, offered clues to watercourses long dry We passed a disconnected towering upthrust of cru stone like rotted teeth in a skull’s jaw or the worn turrets of the wind’s castle Hoodoos, my father called them He’d told me that some of the Plainspeople said they were chimneys for the underworld of their beliefs Dewara rode on I was parched with thirst and all of me was coated with dust e finally topped a s for us The Plainsman stood beside his rateful to slide from her sweaty back The mare moved three steps away froht I had foundered the beast, but she merely rolled over onto her back and scratched herself luxuriously on the short, prickly grass that grew in the depression I thought longingly ofon Sirlofty’s saddle Useless to wish for it now

If Deas surprised that I had caught up with hi at all until I cautiously asked, "What are we going to do now?"

"We are here," was all he replied

I glanced about and saw nothing to recommend "here" over any other arid hollow in the Plains "Should I tend to the horses?" I asked I knew that if I had been riding Sirlofty, my father’s first admonition would be to look after my mount "A horse soldier without his horse is an inexperienced foot soldier," he’d told ue and then casually spat to one side I recognized that he had insulted me, but heldbefore men rode on them," he observed disdainfully "Let the of a weakling to have been concerned for them

But the Kidona animals did seem well able to care for themselves After her scratch, Keeksha heaved herself to her feet and joined Dederass Neither seeallop Had I put Sirlofty through a similar run, I would have walked hiiven him water at careful intervals The Kidona taldi seerit they had rubbed into their wet coats "The animals have no water Neither do I," I told Dewara after a time