Jagger took a firm but careful grip on Nan’s clothing with his teeth, and carried her behind a tree at the edge of the pasture. He hastened back and brought Peter the same way.
What is your plan? Palamedes asked.
I want to take them to the far side of the pasture where you found me, and hide them in that willow thicket by the creek.
There is still some light, the stallion reminded him. You are bound to be seen from the ridge if the woman gives the alarm. You forget how big and white you are.
No one will see me if some of your kind will walk beside me and hide me. But not too many. Perhaps you should lead the way so the others will seem to be following you naturally.
Palamedes called several of the older mares to the tree, and these formed a shield as the first crossing of the pasture began. Fortunately the children had not taken time to remove their heavy jackets when they reached home. They needed them now in the chill wind coming from the ridge, and the extra layers of clothing made it much easier for Jagger to carry them.
He hid Peter in the willows first, then returned with the same guardian group beside him and brought Nan. By this time twilight had come, and moving lights could be seen on the ridge. Now Jagger paused and thoughtfully studied the pasture and the ridge a moment, planning his next move.
I will go halfway back to the house, he told Palamedes. Then I will turn and walk alone to the ridge, leaving a trail the hunting dogs can follow. While I am doing that, you and your kind must walk back and forth over the part of the trail leading here. Do you understand?
I understand, Palamedes said. We will place our hooves where you have stepped, and wipe out your scent that leads to the children. But you must be very careful. Soon the dog pack will be at your heels, and the Black One will be directly in your path.
I will be careful.
Jagger touched noses with the stallion, well knowing it might be the last time they would ever see each other, then turned to carry out the second part of his plan.
It was black dark by the time he reached the wire fence at the edge of the forest, and he was limping again to save the wounded leg. Though he had not mentioned his returning weakness, he had no doubt that Palamedes was aware of it, and was deeply concerned as well. Ordinarily he would have relied on his great strength to carry him over the high fence, and deal with the uncertainties on the other side. But now cleverness must serve him instead.
Getting under the fence was the first problem. He finally managed it by enlarging a spot washed out by rains. On the other side he glanced quickly back at the farm road, where the headlights of cars were streaking toward the house. These, and the faint rushing sound of the creek in the opposite direction, told him he was about on a line with the danger area he must be so careful about.
Though the wind was in his favor, it was veering to the right and he was unable to catch any scent from above. Finally, after he had climbed stealthily for some distance through the forest, he let his mind reach forward, searching. Almost instantly it touched the horror. His mind recoiled, but not before he had made the startling discovery that the thing was asleep.
With any other creature this might have made his task much easier, but he knew better than to relax his vigilance even for an instant. The important part was to get as close as possible without being discovered.
The sudden sound of the dog pack entering the pasture told Jagger he had gone far enough. Very carefully, so as not to disturb so much as a leaf, he began to retreat. He was able to backtrack halfway down the slope before the dogs, held on leash by the hunters, arrived at the fence. Now Jagger put all his strength into a great leap that carried him well off the trail. By the time the hunters had crossed the fence, he was long on his way to the creek.
He had not counted on the men arriving with their dogs. The fact worried him. He had set the trap mainly to turn the dogs from his trail and prevent Nan and Peter from being found. But the men, heedless of Danta Rush’s warning, were walking into the same deadly trap. Still, the weapons they carried were powerful. Perhaps the Black One would be destroyed.
Jagger’s night vision was better than his sense of smell, and he did not catch the Black One’s hateful scent on the veering wind until he saw the two frightened deer racing ahead of him. Then abruptly the ridge behind him was shaken by a demented scream of rage, and there followed such a terror of sound that it seemed as if all the demons of the pit had been loosed upon the world. Into the awful medley went the hoarse shouts of frightened men, the snarling of dogs, and sudden rapid bursts of gunfire.
Jagger stopped and looked back, his floppy ear held straight as he listened. Once more he sent his mind out, this time probing curiously. Men and dogs had been hurt, and he could feel their pain and fear. The Black One remained untouched, but from its senseless mind boiled an incredible hate that was past understanding.
It was now that Jagger made a startling discovery. The Black One could see perfectly at night. But it had only one eye.
At the creek, Jagger swam under the fence as he had done during the morning—taking care to avoid being caught in the wire—and allowed the current to carry him downstream. He would have preferred to walk, for he hated to get wet again with the night turning so cold, but he knew it would be foolish to leave a trail that could be followed into the pasture. After what had happened tonight, everyone in the county would be alarmed. By dawn, a huge hunt was bound to begin.
Just past the fence, an anxious Palamedes succeeded in getting his attention.
You are safe? the stallion asked.
I had no trouble, Jagger told him. But others were hurt, some very badly. The Black One was untouched.
That is too bad. But at least you have drawn the hunt away from the children.
How are they now?
Peter is awake. He must not have eaten as much of the chocolate as Nan. She is still asleep.
Near the willows finally, Jagger crawled out and shook the water from his matted hair and then rolled in the grass, trying to make himself as dry as possible. It did little good, for he was as cold and miserable as he had ever been, and in his weakness he had begun to shiver violently. It was only after he had curled up against the great warm body of Palamedes, who had settled down near the children to shield them from the icy wind, that his shivering gradually stopped.
Peter, huddled close against the stallion, was trying vainly to wake Nan. “It—it must have been that fudge,” the boy mumbled. “D-d’you reckon it was doped, Jagger?”
Jagger touched him with a paw, and nodded. Then Peter asked, “How did we get here? Did you bring us?”
Again Jagger nodded. Peter said, “That—that racket over on the ridge a while ago. I can’t figure what it was about, but I’m willing to bet you were mixed up in it. Were you?”
Jagger nodded once more, and Palamedes made a sound deep in his throat that was almost a chuckle. “Golly,” said Peter. “I sure wish I could talk to you two the way Nan does! I’m missing a lot.” He was silent while he went back to shaking Nan, and occasionally slapping her cheeks, still trying to wake her. Finally he stopped and muttered, “M-maybe I ought to let her sleep it off. Her heart and her breathing sound okay, and Pop used to tell me that as long as those are normal there usually isn’t too much to worry about. Anyhow, I—I sure hate to have her find out what a pickle—”
Peter swallowed, and went on. “They must have planned to come home early and finish us off somehow, knowing we’d go for that fudge. Only, you found us first. Right? What a dumbhead I was! Anyway, we’ve sure got to thank you two.” He sighed, and shook his head. “I never knew before what it was like not to have a home, or even a place to go. But I know now. It—it’s an awful feeling, Jagger, to have something like this happen to you. I—I don’t want Nan to know it, but I’m scared. I—I just don’t know what to do.”
Nan began to move her head and mutter unintelligibly. All at once she opened her eyes, then struggled to a sitting position and looked wildly around. It was some ti
me, however, before her head cleared enough so that she could listen to Jagger and understand what had happened. When she was able, she told Peter all that Jagger and Palamedes had done.
Finally she asked, “Wh-what do you think we’d better do?”
Jagger had been worrying over that problem all the way back to the willow thicket. This far corner of the pasture was probably the safest spot for many miles around. They were well hidden, and it was very unlikely that anyone would come here. But how long could the children stay here without food or shelter?
How do you feel? he asked Nan.
“S-sort of awful,” she admitted.
Do you think you and Peter could ride to Danta Rush’s place on Palamedes?
“Maybe I could if—if I hung on to Peter and we don’t go too fast. I—I’m so dizzy.”
Jagger peered across the pasture at the house. It was ablaze with lights, and he could see the lights of cars moving up and down the road. From the looks of things, Thornberry Farm was going to be a very active spot for the rest of the night. By dawn it would be swarming with people.
Going to the bronze man’s cottage by way of the road was out of the question. Yet if they cut through the woods, there was the danger of the Black One. The creature had not left the lower ridge, for he could still feel the deadly vibrations of its fury.
Is there a back way to Danta Rush’s place? he asked next.
“Yes,” Nan told him, and repeated the question to Peter.
“But it’s a lot farther,” Peter said, “and I don’t know how we’d get through the north gate. It’s padlocked, and Palamedes could never knock it down, because it’s made of steel.”
The steel gate is not as high as the wooden one, Palamedes said. I can jump it easily if they will dismount and climb over it. Then he added, It is turning colder. Soon it will be freezing. The children are not dressed for such cold, so I think we should start immediately.
Peter was wobbly on his feet, but he managed, with Jagger’s help, to climb onto the stallion’s back. Nan had more trouble, for she could hardly stand. But at last, shaking with the cold, she was settled behind Peter and clinging tightly to him.
Palamedes started away, then stopped and looked back at Jagger. Are you coming with us?
No. It will be better if I return the way I came this morning. It would be foolish to leave a new trail that might lead hunters straight to the cottage.
With some uneasiness, he watched the dim bulk of Palamedes and his riders fade into the night. Had he made the right decision? Suddenly he wasn’t sure.
ELEVEN He Overhears a Plot
At the moment Jagger had little heart for the long climb back to Danta Rush’s place. It meant getting wet again and forcing a weakened body through numbing cold when everything in him was crying for rest. Then he thought of the snug room with its warm hearth that awaited him, and he drove himself down to the creek and began wading upstream.
It was not too hard at first. By keeping to the shallows on one side, he was able to make good progress without going in deeper than his chest. But the stream narrowed and deepened as he drew nearer the fence, and suddenly he was in all the way, struggling grimly to make progress against the current.
Jagger almost despaired of actually getting under the fence and making it as far as the shallows where he had crossed in the morning. Yet somehow he managed it, and was able to crawl out at the exact spot where he had entered it. But now his stumbling legs would carry him no farther, and he sank down in the autumn leaves, exhausted.
It was the hateful scent of the Black One that suddenly shocked him to an awareness of his danger.
His floppy ear straightened, seeking the sound of movement, but all that could be heard was the rustling of leaves in the biting wind. Yet the thing was approaching. He knew that by the changing scent, and the mounting waves of hate that beat upon him like a soundless drum. The creature hadn’t discovered him yet—the hate was directed at all things living, as well as at the increasing cold which it seemed to abhor. But it was only a matter of moments, Jagger realized, before his own presence would be known.
Never in his life had Jagger retreated before danger, and though Elder Norfo would have told him that only frogs and fools stand fast against thunderbolts, it galled him to be forced to his feet and driven away. He went stealthily at first, making no more sound than the thing itself, and with every step his eyes roved the darkness, searching. But he saw nothing that moved. Nothing whatever. He knew he was lucky not to see anything, for certainly the creature would have seen him also. Yet the fact brought the hackles up on his neck, and made him feel that he was dealing with an invisible evil against which he was powerless.
Jagger’s hackles did not go down until he was well beyond range of the hateful scent and could no longer feel the vibrations from that deadly mind. He was halfway to the road by now, carefully following his morning trail. So exceptional was his memory that he finally crossed the road by stepping backward in his old footprints, which he hoped would fool any hunter who might stop to examine them.
Above the road the way was easier, though he was hardly aware of it in his exhaustion. He limped along mechanically, head down against the wind, and ages later stood swaying on the back porch of Danta Rush’s cottage. He was chilled to the marrow and colder now than he had ever been. He was so numbed by it that he was not immediately aware that the cottage was empty.
All at once the unpleasant truth struck him like a blow. Palamedes and his two riders had not yet arrived.
As nearly as he could guess, it was sometime after midnight. Even walking slowly, the stallion, with his great stride, should have been here first.
What could have happened?
Jagger stood trembling with cold and fatigue, trying to make his numbed brain work. Once he managed to paw open the screen door, but when he put his teeth to the knob of the kitchen door, he found that it had been locked. Finally he went over to the pile of neatly stacked wood at the side of the porch and started to lie down out of the wind. But before he could get settled, he heard a car approaching.
It was coming from farther up the road, from the same direction he expected Palamedes to appear. What was a car doing at this time of night, on this remote road, unless it was someone searching for Nan and Peter?
Jagger was suddenly alert, his floppy ear standing up straight as he listened. The car stopped in front of the cottage. He heard two people get out—a man and a woman. They were talking in low, fearful tones, and though their voices were muffled in the night, he knew instantly who they were. Their thoughts were clear enough.
“We’re wasting time, stopping here again,” the man was saying as they came up on the front porch. “And it’s not safe. That devilish animal could be anywhere …”
“Shut up, Luis,” Tess Gomez ordered shortly. “I don’t like it any more than you—but we’ve got to find those kids. Hurry and try those keys in the door.”
A human might not have heard the faint repeated sound of metal scraping metal, but Jagger caught it all. Abruptly a bolt clicked, and he was aware of the front door being opened. Footsteps sounded inside, and the moving beam of a flashlight momentarily brightened the kitchen window near him.
“There’s nobody here,” Luis Gomez muttered. “I told you that the first time.”
“We didn’t come inside then. They might have been hiding. Look in the closets, under the bed, everywhere …”
There were sounds of a hurried search, then came an uneasy silence. Jagger could feel the woman’s baffled anger—and her fear.
Suddenly Tess Gomez said tensely, “I don’t understand it! How did they get out of the refrigerator? Somebody must have helped them.”
“Naw! Who would know about it? I tell you it was the blasted latch. Those kids just woke up too soon. When they started to kick and push, the thing opened.”
“Then where did they go?”
“Dang it, Tess, they were bound to head up this way. This is the nearest house. And if they
didn’t find old Danta home, and couldn’t get in, they’d sure go on to that timber shack.”
“Then why weren’t they there?” she snapped.
“I can figure a couple good reasons. Either they got lost or scared or something and are hiding out in the brush, or that thing caught ’em. It near killed Jake Hathaway, and Bill Thomas was torn up bad. You saw the teeth on that white monster.”
“I saw them.”
They were silent a moment. Then Tess Gomez spat out, “I hope that’s what happened. It would sure save us some trouble. But somehow I believe they’re hiding in the woods. Maybe they heard our car, or saw the lights, and are just waiting for the chance to sneak in here when we leave.”
“You could be right, doll.”
“If I am, I’ll fix the little snots! We’ll go home and leave this door unlocked. Then, as soon as it gets light, we’ll come back—but we’ll do it quietly. They’ll be so tired from being out most of the night that they’ll never know a thing …”
Jagger, seeing what was in her mind, found it hard to repress a growl of revulsion. Even the man, he realized, had no heart for the deed ahead but was powerless to assert himself against the will of such a woman.
Jagger waited until their car was far down the road, then he limped painfully around the house and opened the front door.
Inside, he sank in near-exhaustion on the hearth. It was such a relief to be out of the cold and off his feet that for a moment his mind blanked out and he could not remember the urgent thing he had to do. Then an anxious and indignant Cleo, who had been hiding under the kitchen sink, came out and touched noses with him and demanded to know who the intruders were and what was going on.
He managed to give her the information. Then his memory came awake with a jolt and he began calling Nan.
She did not answer. In desperation he called again and again, but Nan remained silent.
Finally he called Palamedes. It brought a quick reply. We have had trouble, the stallion told him. Nan is sick from that stuff in the candy. I think she got more of it than Peter. Twice she has fallen, and ach time it was very difficult to get her on my back again. Peter has her in front of him and is trying to hold her in place. Then near the old shack the man and the woman came in their car, and we had to leave the road and hide until they left.
Jagger Page 8
