The facemaker inched forward until he was clasping Ben’s hand. “No, press on. I think we’ll find someplace up ahead, maybe a cave or a deep rift. Don’t look down, though, just keep your face level with the side of these rocks, and don’t try to walk. Shuffle sideways—not too fast, nice and easy does it.”
Obediently, Ben kept his gaze level, though every now and again his eyes would stray to the sickening drop from the ledge. He called out, “Are you alright, Karay? Can you manage?”
The girl answered, trying not to show the fear she felt. “I’m fine, I’m holding on to Dominic’s other hand and Ned’s ear!”
The dog’s thoughts entered Ben’s mind. “I’m not complaining, but she’s got a grip like a vise for such a pretty, slim girl. You just push on ahead, Ben. I think there must be a touch of mountain goat in my family, I’m doing rather well. Go easy and look after yourself!”
Ben returned the Labrador’s thoughts. “Thanks, Ned, I will. I don’t suppose there’s any indication of those Razan following us, is there?”
Ned’s reply was not a cheerful one. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that, mate. Now don’t go telling Karay or Dominic, no sense in frightening them into a wrong move, but I’ve just this moment heard that big slobbering mastiff. He’s got a bark like a bull with colic. There’s two men with him, and they’re just debating whether or not to follow us out onto this ledge.”
The one named Domba made the mastiff’s chain fast to a low spur of rock. He peered apprehensively up the narrow winding ledge, then chanced a glance below. Looking away swiftly, he threw a hand over his eyes. “No use clamberin’ about here, they wouldn’t dare take this route, I’m sure of it!”
Rouge, the big redheaded robber, snorted scornfully. “This is the trail Gurz has sniffed out, we go this way.”
Domba tried another excuse. “It could be just a decoy trail. Take Gurz an’ have a look. I’ll wait here an’ keep my eyes open for them in case they’ve gone another way.”
Rouge shook his head in disgust. “You’re scared, Domba. That’s the true reason y’don’t want to go—you’ve got no stomach for it. Look, your legs are shakin’, you gutless worm!”
Domba tried to push past Rouge, desperate to be back on safer ground. “Call me what ye like, I’m not goin’!”
Rouge grabbed Domba’s collar and whipped out his knife. “Oh yes ye are. Now get goin’, or I’ll slay ye myself. Come on, loose that chain from the rocks an’ follow Gurz. I’ll be right behind, don’t even think of turnin’ back!”
Domba undid the chain and wound it about his wrist. Gurz took a sniff at the path and gave a gruff bark. Then he was away, straining at the chain lead as he dragged the terrified man out along the narrow mountain ledge.
Ben and his party heard the mastiff’s bark. Karay gave a sob of dismay. “It’s the Razan, they’ve found us! What do we do now?”
Dominic squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Don’t be afraid, keep going at a steady pace, don’t try to hurry. They can only go at the same rate as us. See anything up ahead, Ben?”
Dawn was beginning to streak the sky as Ben peered ahead. His reply carried a note of hope. “Aye, there’s a slight bend, let’s get round it. There may be someplace better there, perhaps a crack to hide in!”
Suddenly, Ben’s feet skidded on the rock. As Dominic pulled him back from the brink, he half slipped, then steadied himself. “Whooh! Thanks, Dom. Be very careful, there’s ice on the ledge. Water from high up has trickled down and frozen in the night.” With painstaking care the four travellers shuffled hand in hand around the icy bend, which shone dully in day’s first pale light.
Ben’s heart sank when he saw where they were. The narrow ledge gave way to a broad, sloping slide of bare rock dotted with pockets of shale. There was no further path between the snow-clad peaks above and the ground far, far below. Dominic sized up the situation. Behind them the mastiff set up a series of deep, baying barks. The hunters were hot on their trail now.
The facemaker came to a swift decision. “Let me get in front of you, Ben. There’s a crack in the rock face, I can reach it! We’ll go upward, I can see a deep pocket of shale there. The rock must have fallen down and filled a big crevasse. If we can make it onto the shale we’re safe!”
Ben glanced up at the route his friend had indicated. It was an extremely slim chance and very risky, but he knew they had to take it. He spoke his thoughts aloud. “There’s no guarantee that shale won’t slide if we get to it. As for going up there, I’ll do that. I’ve had some experience at climbing ships’ rigging. Right, take your cloaks off and give them to me. Don’t ask questions, there’s no time!”
Ben took Dominic’s knife and slit the three wide-skirted cloaks through their back seams from top to bottom. Knotted together, the six pieces made a makeshift rope. Taking one end between his teeth, Ben had Dominic hold the other. With a small skip and a jump, he launched himself out above the crack in the rock’s sheer face.
For one heart-stopping moment, Ben’s cold hands slid down the icy surface. Then he caught the crack and hung there. Ned’s thoughts were crowding in on him as he did—the dog praying. “Oh please, lovely angel, don’t let my Ben fall. Keep him safe, let him live, and I promise to be a much better Ned in the future. Honest I will!”
Hand over hand, Ben moved along the fissure until it became broader and deeper, then levered himself up and found that he could wedge his feet in and stand upright. The mastiff’s snuffling and baying seemed quite close now—and he could hear Rouge urging and threatening Domba along.
“Don’t stand still, fool, you’ll freeze with fright. Keep goin’, they can’t be far ahead!”
Dominic tied the cloak end around Karay’s waist, instructing her, “Try to climb. Ben’ll pull you up if you slip.”
The girl ventured gingerly out. She had not gone more than a few feet when she slipped. Ben braced himself. “Hang on, mate. Wait until you’ve stopped swinging, then climb!”
Karay shut her eyes tight. She swung to and fro like a pendulum, then caught her foot on a rough spot and began attempting to climb. Ben heaved stoutly on the rope, pulling her up until he reached her with his hands. Perching in the rocky crack, she undid the cloak rope. Ben knotted a piece of rock into the end and swung it back to Dominic.
Ben called out Ned’s thoughts, instructing Dominic on what to do. “Tie it round Ned, under his front legs. Give him a bit to hold on to with his teeth, then swing him out.”
Dominic complied with the orders. Ned went swinging out into space, still mentally beseeching the angel, “Oooooh! Listen, good angel, do the same for me as you did for Ben, and I promise to make a better boy of him. Just don’t let Dominic’s hands slip, dear sweet nice angel!”
A moment later, Ben and Karay had hauled Ned up into the crack. Dominic’s shout reached them, loud and urgent. “Throw the rope back, quick, they’re here!”
The mastiff’s ugly head poked around the bend of the ledge, followed by a white-faced Domba, then the triumphant Rouge, who snarled at his companion. “Hand that chain to me! I’ll watch Gurz, you get past the dog an’ grab the lad. The others’ll climb back here when they see what I do to him. Go on, move yourself, slowcoach!”
Flattening himself against the ledge wall, Domba inched past the mastiff. Dominic reached out to the swinging rope and missed it. He caught it on the second swing, at the same moment that Domba grabbed his shoulder with one hand. Seizing the rope with both hands and his teeth, Dominic swung out with Domba clinging to him. Ben and Karay, with the help of Ned’s jaws, leaned back and took the strain of both bodies. The cloak made a ragged, tearing sound as Dominic spun. Domba was still clinging behind him as they hit the rock face. His head cracked against it and he let go.
“Yeeeeeaaaaarrrrr!”
Dominic tried not to look at the robber’s body sailing through empty space. As he felt the cloak rope ripping, he babbled out a stream of entreaties. “Pull me up, Ben, pull me up pull me up don’t let me fall, Ben, please
please please!”
Next thing he knew, Dominic was clutching both of Ben’s hands as Karay and Ned clung grimly to the shredding rope. “It’s alright, Dom, I’ve got you, safe and sound. Up ye come!”
Rouge looked across to where the four escapees perched in the crack on the mountain face. He wagged a finger at them, as if reproving naughty children. “Done it now, ain’t ye. Gone an’ killed my poor friend Domba!”
Karay shouted back at the robber. “Rubbish, it was his own stupid fault, you’ll get the same if you try anything!”
Rouge shook his head and laughed. “Hoho, brave words, little maid. But I ain’t tryin’ anything. You an’ your pals are stuck there with no place to go. . . . Come on, climb back over here, I won’t hurt ye!”
Ben had seen the robber’s type before—quite a few times. He threw back his head and laughed at Rouge. “Haha, who d’you think you’re trying to fool? We know you’re a Razan. We’ll stay right here, thankee!”
Rouge wound the mastiff’s chain around his hand as he replied. “Right then, you stay there. As for me, I’ll go back to camp an’ get some others. We’ll be back, carryin’ muskets!”
He noted the stunned silence and the anxious looks the young people exchanged. “Ain’t so cheeky now, are ye?”
Ben caught Ned’s thoughts in the pause which followed. “Dear angel, remember those promises I made to you? Well, er, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to break them a bit. But it’s all in a good cause, to save my friends’ lives. So forgive me!”
Ned teetered on the edge of the crack, tail straight out, hackles rising and teeth bared. The black Labrador began barking, growling and snarling thunderously at Gurz. Ben took hold of his dog’s collar. “Ned, what’s wrong, boy?”
But Ned ignored him, rearing up on his hind legs, straining against the hand holding his collar. Foam flecked from the Labrador’s mouth as he howled like a wild animal at the mastiff.
Gurz howled back and set up a series of short angry barks.
Rouge tugged on the dog’s chain. “Quit that row, ye great idiot!”
Ned barked in return, roaring furiously. The rock face resounded with the noise of both dogs, then without warning Gurz took off, dragging Rouge with him. The robber’s feet skidded on the ice as the huge mastiff pulled him forward. Gurz made a massive leap out into space, as though he were trying to reach the crack with a mighty bound. But he never made it. Both man and mastiff plummeted into the valley, howling the last sounds they would make on this earth. It was a long way down—they looked like two black spots crumpled on the rocky foothills.
Dominic could only shake his head in bewilderment. “What happened there?”
Ned explained mentally to Ben. “I made some nasty remarks about his parents, his mother the donkey and his father the pig. Then I challenged him to a fight, but I said that he could never jump this far, like I had!”
Ben stroked his dog’s head, staring into the liquid brown eyes. “But we swung you on the rope from the ledge to here.”
Ned managed a doggy look of innocence. “Aye, but he hadn’t arrived to see that part. Mastiffs aren’t too bright, y’know. I’m sorry I had to do it, but that redheaded rogue didn’t leave us too much choice. ’Twas either that or get shot.”
Ben ruffled his friend’s ears. “I’m sure the angel will forgive you. I certainly do, it was a very clever idea!”
Bright morning sun began driving away the clouds and warming the air. Dominic flexed his stiff legs. “Well, friends, where to now?”
As if in answer to the question, there was a piteous call. “Maaaahaaah!”
Ben pointed back to the narrow ledge. “Goats!”
Two of the creatures stood staring at them across the void, shaggy-coated, cloven-hoofed and with expressions of curiosity in their odd eyes. By the difference in their sizes, they looked like a nanny goat and her little kid. The mother nuzzled her little one as it stood bleating, “Maaah maaaaahaaah!”
A voice from around the bend called to them. “Sissy, Paris, what’ve I told you about running off like that? If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times!”
A large, strong-looking woman clad in man’s attire came around the bend. Over the rough cloak she wore was a coil of rope with an ice axe tucked into its loops. She tended to the goats, shooing them back off along the ledge, before turning her homely, weather-beaten face to the four friends. “What are ye doing out there, children? You don’t look like Razan, but who can tell these days?”
Instinctively Ben knew she was friendly. He smiled at her. “No, marm, we’re not Razan, we were just trying to escape from them. But we’re stuck out here, I’m afraid.”
The goatherd lady returned Ben’s smile. She peered over the ledge at the three tiny figures crumpled below on the rocks. “The only good Razan’s a dead ’un, you did away with them well.”
Karay retorted, a little indignantly, “No, we didn’t, it was their own fault. And anyway, they’d have killed us if they could have!”
The woman shrugged the rope from her shoulders. “No matter. If you stay there much longer, you’ll freeze. Let’s get you back to safety. Huh, you’re worse than some of my goats for getting y’selves stuck in awkward places!”
She tied one end of the rope to her axe handle and began whirling the device expertly. Hurling it high over their heads, she landed the axe in a rock fissure above them. Tugging to make sure the rope would not drop, she threw it to Ben. “Tie the dog on. Give him a good hard push, away from me. I’ll catch him on the backswing.”
Ben heard Ned thinking as he was hurled off across the rock face. “Whoooooo! Hope the good lady has strong hands!”
He had no need to worry. The big woman caught him lightly and set him on the ledge. He sent Ben a relieved thought. “Hahaha, she’s twice as strong as Anaconda!”
Karay went next, then Dominic and finally Ben. When they were all safe, Ben held his hand out and introduced himself and his companions.
The woman shook his hand cheerily—she had a grip like a vise. Ben winced. “Thank you very much, marm, we’re sorry to put you to any bother.”
She flicked the axe from its fissure. Catching it skilfully, she wound the rope back over her shoulder.
“My name’s Arnela. ’Tis no bother, lad. I’ve swung crevasses on the rope many a time. Aye, and with a pair of goats slung across my back. Come on, you’ll want feeding. Young’uns always do, goats or humans.”
When they got off the ledge, Arnela led them on a switchback of a route through secret paths and over jumbles of rock. She gathered goats along the way, chiding each as she herded them ahead of her. “Achilles, where’ve you been, you badly behaved fellow! Clovis, tell that kid of yours to stay with the rest! Shame on you, Pantyro, stop acting the goat and lead the herd like I taught you to!”
Arnela stroked Ned’s head absently. “Hmm, nice dog, aren’t ye? I’ll wager you’ve more sense than all these creatures.”
Ben was not at all surprised when Arnela’s dwelling turned out to be a cave, though it was so well concealed that nobody noticed it until she pointed it out. “There you go, straight in behind that little waterfall. See if you can do it without getting wet—I can, watch!” She rounded the corner of a rift covered with wet moss and mountain plants and vanished behind a small cataract that flowed into a pool and overspilt into a stream. Arnela patted each one’s back as they came through into the cave, checking to see how wet they had got. “Ah well, you’ll learn. Ned’s the only dry one among ye.”
She ducked outside again. They could hear her calling to the goats. “No, don’t stray too far or there’ll be no fodder for ye. Atlas, stop nibbling those plants, d’ye hear me?” A moment later she was back inside, waving her hand at immense piles of dried grass heaped everywhere. “Sit ye down on the goats’ dinner while I get a fire going.”
In a deep crevice at the back of the cave, Arnela kindled a fire from the ashes of a previous one, chatting away animatedly. “Always use charcoal, ni
ce red glow, no smoke. This is my summer and autumn home. Winter and spring I take the herd down to the forest, got my other place there, hidden, like this one. Here, Karay, do somethin’ for your living, girl, bring me that basket of eggs. You boys fetch the flour an’ milk, you’ll find some fresh herbs there, too, on that shelf.”
The eggs were those of mountain birds, some big and speckled, others plain white. Karay handed Arnela the basket. “I thought you’d be making a stew of goat meat,” the girl said.
The big woman fixed her with an icy glare. “Goat? People in their right mind don’t eat goat, it makes them silly. I wouldn’t dream of eating my goats, they’re my children. I’ll make you a special treat of mine. Mountain bread and herbs with good goat cheese, ’tis my secret recipe, you’ll like it.”
Arnela was right, they did like her secret recipe. The food was homely and delicious. As they ate, Dominic related their story, from the day of their arrival at the village fair up to their encounter the previous night with Gizal, the blind woman. Arnela listened intently, showing great interest whenever Adamo’s name was mentioned.
When Dominic finished, the goatherd lady sat staring into the fire. “So, you have taken on a mission to save the comte’s nephew. ’Tis a brave and courageous thing you do. But let me warn you, the perils and dangers of going up against the Razan could cost you your lives—they are an evil brood!”
Ben could not help remarking, “You live in these mountains, marm, but they don’t seem to bother you. How is that?”
A baby goat wandered into the cavern, bleating piteously. The big woman took it on her lap and stroked it gently until it fell silent and dozed off in the warmth. Then she began telling the friends her own history.