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so I suppose I cannot complain. Perhaps a temeryx will snap them up and choke on them.”
    I laughed aloud. “I don’t think that’s very likely, do you? They’ll long since have decayed before another frostclaw is found in these parts.”
    Leigh shook his head. “My father didn’t tell you?”
    “Tell us what?” I looked at Nay and he stared blankly back at me. “What was he supposed to tell us?”
    “My good fellows, you don’t imagine my father brought all these huntsmen out just to find you, do you?” He waggled a finger at us. “No, no, no! It seems that frostclaws hunt in packs. Where you find one, you find at least three more. No, my friends, we’re here with the huntsmen to find the other frostclaws and kill them. The fun we had last night, it was just the prelude, and we are in this little opera until the very last note is sung.”
    [Tj he hunters returned to the wagons along with Rounce. One I of the magickers got into the wagon where they placed 1 Rounce, then it was turned and sent back to Valsina with four outriders. The rest of us piled into the other two wag-•with Nay and me riding with Leigh. We all set off along on the road to the point where we’d been dropped off.
    I got a little sleep during that run, then woke up when the wagons stopped at our drop-off point. Two other wagons and more riders had been sent ahead and were waiting for us. Nay and I left our wagon and accompanied the others to the site of the first kill. Of the watcher who had died on the hilltop we could find only his tattered cloak. The huntsmen located a couple of other bare patches of earth that yielded temeryx prints, including one with only two claws, indicating an animal that had been injured.
    Sandes looked up from that particular track and nodded. “There certainly was more than one. The others tracked the first beast here to its kill and took the food away.”
    Lord Norrington stroked his chin. “Can you tell how many?”
    “At least two is my guess, possibly twice that number.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that, but said nothing since the hunters’ muttered musings sounded dour and grim. Nay and I then led them to the site of the second attack and our kill. We found its body where we’d left it, though something had been worrying it. Sandes asked if Lord Norrington wanted him to further butcher the animal for food, but Leigh’s father demurred.
    “We’ve provisions enough, and I don’t want too much confusion when we seek out the rest of the pack. Later we will have more and fresher meat.”
    We all hiked back to the wagons and discovered that some of the hunters had crossed the road to the side away from the ravine and, in a fairly level spot, had set up camp. They had three fires burning and had pitched several tents, including a fairly large one with a central pavilion and a couple of smaller tents coming off it like spokes from a hub. As we came into the clearing, Leigh emerged from the large tent, walking rather gingerly, but smiling nonetheless.
    In our absence he had changed from the tattered clothes he’d worn previously to a set of green hunting leathers. The stark white of his moonmask contrasted sharply with the deep green of the leathers. He wore a sword and dagger on a belt around his waist, and his feet had been clad in soft leather boots that laced up the front and had a fringe around the top. A folded pair of gloves hung from his belt.
    “Welcome back to our home away from home.” He waved a hand at the large tent. “You’ve each been given one of the wings here—Hawkins to the right, Nay to the left. There is a change of clothes for each of you.”
    Nay covered a yawn with the back of his left hand. “Night-clothes would suit right now.”
    Lord Norrington came up from behind and clapped both of us on the shoulders. “Yes, please, get some more rest. Three hours until noon, then we will be hunting.”
    I had to pass through the main tent to reach my little tent, and I could not help but be impressed with what I saw. A series