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you with better mounts than those you have procured. And I have."
Chapter Thirty-One
"Horses for all of us" referred to horses on which the humans could ride, and
these were very good animals indeed, furnished with saddles, bridles, and all
necessary gear. But they were, necessarily, for the humans alone. Secoh and
Aragh were left with no option but to travel under their own power.
This was no problem for Secoh, who could fly. As for Aragh, he traveled along
with the horses quite easily, clearly deriving a certain amount of evil
enjoyment from the fact that he made them nervous if he moved close to them.
In fact, his deliberate scaring of the horses this way pushed things to the
point where Jim had to ask him to stop it.
Aragh made no pretense of not understanding what he was talking about.
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"I have to admitit's good entertainment," Aragh said.
"However, under the circumstances and considering the fact we've work before
us, I'll do as you say, James, and keep off a little ways. That is, unless the
road happens to crowd us together then, if these big, four-legged clodhoppers
of yours get upset because I'm close, don't blame me for it."
"In that case," said Jim, "I won't."
Secoh was not so well able to keep up with them on foot. A dragon walking on
his hind legs, although it might be work for him, could keep up well enough
with horses at a walk. However, Raoul took advantage of open stretches to trot
the horses. This was a little hard on Jim; who had not yet, in spite of a year
in this world, become a real horseman. But it was even harder on Secoh. A
dragon could run on his hind legs, but it was an energy-expensive exercise and
not one that he was built for. And Secoh's presence alongside had a tendency
to spook the horses even more than Aragh's did.
A solution was found by Secoh being directed to a place later on where he
could meet them, and taking off to get there by wing and await their arrival.
This worked quite well, with Secoh flying anywhere from fifteen minutes to
half an hour ahead of them, and then joining them when they stopped to breathe
the horses, or to eat and drink.
The weather was stillsunny, and warm without being too warm. They made
excellent time and soon crossed the trail of the French army. They saw
evidence and heard eye-witness accounts from local people whom Sir Raoul was
able to approach and question although these same individuals would have run
from Jim or any of his other Companions that confirmed that the army was at
least a good two days ahead of them. The path of the French host seemed to be
curving westward. They all took this to mean that the French had learned that
the British forces were moving off in that direction and were now in active
pursuit of them.
"You never did get to tell me how you come to be here. You're anAmbassador ,
you said?" Jim asked Secoh at one of their meal stops.
They were stopping more frequently now, on the excuse of resting the horses,
or of eating or drinking something themselves, or just about any reason that
one of them could dream up. The truth of the matter was that all of them,
except Secoh and Sir Raoul, were dead for want of sleep; and no one wanted to
be the first to fall asleep in the saddle.
"I never got to tell it right," said Secoh sulkily. "Carolinus stopped me
before I could."
"I know," said Jim sympathetically, "but there's so many important things
going on& "
He let the words trail off. Secoh brightened up a little and shed his
sulkiness.
"Oh, well," he said, "what happened was that Carolinus told me about you and
the Dark Powers; and how they were steering you to those two rogue dragons in
the oldchâteau. So I went to the Cliffside Dragons again and suggested that
they send me as an Ambassador to let you know what your rights were with the
French dragons; in a case like this where two of them who had turned rogue had
gotten hold of a valuable passport for which they would all be held
responsible. Well, to make a long story short, after not too much talk at all [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]