s took in the view then eyed each

other with something less than total enthusiasm. The fact that there

was no razor-sharp wind and no threatening cloud-wall of snow lurking

on the horizon meant there was no excuse for not moving forward. But

the same good weather could also entice the warriors of hostile Mute

clans out into the open in search of fresh meat.

Each of them knew that the atrocious conditions they had encountered

since landing were the main reasons why the Plainfolk clans who

inhabited the area had not put in an appearance. So far. Without

having it spelled out, everyone knew there was no way they could reach

Wyoming without stepping on the turf of a hostile clan.

Snow or no snow, it was only a matter of time before they would have to

face their first challenge. And again, without having someone spell it

out they also knew the first would probably be their last. If attacked

by a determined and numerically superior group the handguns they

carried would only afford them a brief respite and would probably be

more effective if turned against themselves. Suicide was infinitely

preferable to an excruciating death through ritual mutilation.

The subject of how to defend themselves when this inevitable - and

terminal - encounter took place had been broached on several occasions

as they sat huddled over a fire inside their overnight shelters but no

one had put forward a coherent plan. Jodi was left with the mpression

it had been tacitly agreed that if the problem did arise, Clearwater

would somehow use the inexplicable power she possessed to get them out

of trouble.

Since the first day, when the four of them had staggered like drunken

sailors through a blizzard carrying Dave Kelso's stretcher

shoulder-high, they had got themselves better organized. The hatch

cover to which he was strapped had been turned into a sled which they

pulled along with a lot less effort two at a time. It gave Kelso a

much smoother ride and meant that the two who weren't pulling could

hump the homemade backpacks into which their supplies had been

loaded.

Towards noon, the trouble they'd been expecting appeared in the shape

of a solitary fur-clad Mute warrior who ambled up out of a dip in the

ground and stopped as he caught sight of Cadillac and Clearwater who

were walking about a hundred yards ahead of Steve, Jodi and Kelso.

Everyone froze - including the Mute, who was carrying a crossbow.

Steve weighed up the distance between them and decided there wasn't a

lot he could do. The warrior was a couple of hundred yards away from

where he stood - too far even for Cadillac to pick off with a

handgun.

And it was just as well none of them tried because more fur-clad Mutes

rose into view on either side of the first.

'Shee-itt..." breathed Jodi. 'What the eft-eft are we gonna do?"

'Stay calm and start counting,' said Steve. There were thirty of them

- five hands - spread out in a long line that started behind Steve's

right shoulder then angled in past Cadillac and Clearwater barring the

way ahead. Roughly a third of them carried crossbows; the rest were

armed with a mixture of spiked head-crushers and knife-sticks.

Without the rapid intervention of Talisman, the presence of so many

bowmen beyond the reach of their handguns made the outcome of any fight

a foregone conclusion.

Steve and Jodi watched with hated breath as Clearwater raised her

right hand and made the traditional sign of greeting. As she did so,

Cadillac produced the fat-barrelled pistol he'd taken from the

Skyrider's rescue kit and fired a white signal flare vertically into

the air.

'Sheee-ehhh!" The sibilant Mute cry that signified amazement, awe and

admiration burst from the throats of the warriors as they watched the

dazzling fireball rise some two hundred feet before curving over their

heads and falling to earth behind them, leaving a drifting trail of

smoke to mark its passage through the air.

It was the equivalent of the 'white arrow', the crossbow bolt that

carried a smouldefing sheaf of dried grass aloft as a signal that the

hunter or the hunted wished to parley.

After a suspense-filled moment when nobody in the Mute line reacted,

the four warriors in the centre went into a huddle then raised their

right arms and returned Clearwater's greeting. There was then a

second, longer confab between the leader of the Mute posse and

Cadillac. From the amount of head-nodding, some sort of agreement

seemed to have been reached. Steve eyed Jodi and let out a husky sigh

of relief.

A rapid tap-tap-tap drew their attention down to Kelso whose