Dragon and Herdsman: The Fourth Dragonback Adventure by Timothy Zahn

Author:Timothy Zahn [Zahn, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780765352767
Amazon: 0765352761
Publisher: Starscape
Published: 2007-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

"I figured Frost was overdue to pull something cute," Alison said as they made their way through the forest. "So when we hit the stream up here, I decided to send everyone else ahead while I went back and waited for trouble to show up." She waved a hand at Jack. "And for you to show up, too, of course. Speaking of which, shouldn't you have a red Phooka with you?"

"I did," Jack said, grimacing. "The soldiers got him."

"Oh." Alison seemed taken aback. "I'm sorry. I just assumed that was the one who went tearing by just before they cleverly brought the top of that tree down on top of themselves."

"No, that was the gray one," Jack told her. "She must have gotten lost from the rest of the herd."

Alison snorted. "Wandered away on purpose, more like. That one's been trouble since we started. So the red Phooka . . .?"

"He was the first set of gunfire you heard," Jack said. "I was hiding by a tree and he just took off."

"Odd," Alison said. "Did he attack them or something?"

"No, he was just wandering away," Jack said. "Not that odd, really. He'd probably picked up the herd's trail and was trying to get back to them."

"I was talking about the mercs' reaction," Alison said. "They shouldn't be spooking nearly this soon. That's a bad sign."

"What do you mean, spooking?"

"Shooting at something that's not a threat when they're supposed to be sneaking up on someone," she explained. "I wonder if they know something about Phookas that we don't."

"I don't know," Jack lied. Of course the soldiers would have orders to shoot at anything even vaguely K'da-shaped on sight. But Alison had no way of knowing that. "Maybe they've run into whatever it is that clawed the bark off that tree we saw," he suggested. "That would sure spook me."

"Maybe," she said. "Might explain why they were burning so much ammo shooting up that tree, too. But if there was something up there, I never saw it. I don't suppose you thought to grab one of their guns or anything."

"Actually, that would have been a bad idea," Jack told her. "They've got trackers in the guns. I don't know where."

"Probably the shoulder stock," Alison said. "That's where they usually put things like that. Keeps them clear of the moving parts that way. Here we are."

The stream was, to Jack's mind, more like a small river than the little babbling brook he'd expected. It was at least five yards across, moving swiftly but quietly. "Where are they?" he asked, peering across at the other side.

"If they're where I told Hren to stay, they're fifty yards upriver and twenty yards north on the far side," Alison said. "Afraid you're going to get your feet wet. Hey, what do you know? There she is."

Jack followed her pointing finger to see Taneem emerge from behind a row of reeds at the water's edge. "Oh, good," he said, a wave of relief rolling through him. He already had the red Phooka's death on his conscience.

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