The Time Traders

e trees they had been felling, he went to help his companion roll another small log up to a shelter which was no longer temporary. If there had been any eyes

r spies in the forest, they had to assume for their own safety. They might prowl at night, bu

had such wonders to exchange for tanned deer hides and better furs. The news of the traders' arrival spread q

le. Although they did not share a common speech with the forest men, signs were informative and certain nouns could be quickly learned. In the meantime Ashe became friendly with th

n hot face. "If the Reds aren't traders,

. "A hunting tr

ey get the wome

them in our own time. Or in the way lots

ss he found sickening. Although he had always prided himself on his toughness, several times during his traini

ds of times by invaders. In this setup-small family

ot hunters," Ross pointed out. "They c

, I see what you mean-there isn't any village ar

returned, a deer's haunch on his shoulder. Ross knew him well e

" Ashe replied with a

play the supernatural angle, don't they? First the voi

ack until the beast headed for the ghost country. Then Ulffa called us off in a hurry. It seems that the hunter who goes in there afte

or us. A Beaker camp about twenty miles south of here, as far as I can judge, was exterminated ju

one because they

and, the affair may have been

id it?" Ross

ems that strange tribesm

?" McNeil

erconfident and don't care about the rules. But it was the work of tribesmen, or their counterfeits. There is also a nasty rumor

h of Lurgha,"

n this which suggests a lot to t

nt," McNeil said. "It is too easy to mistake a fri

, but their minds do not work along the same patterns as ours. We try to outwit them, but it takes only one slip to make it fatal. In th

e ourselves?" McNeil asked. "We could strike for the ghost mountains,

that the tribesmen who raided the Beaker camp left some very distasteful evidence of

"We might be able to fake so

f the clearing where they were building their hut, his hand on one of the saplings in

t is

measuring gauge now. "That bird has never called from inland before

rest, went for the water jug. "Ge

n the bird called, its cry piercing and covering a long distance. Ross could understand why a careless man would select it for the signal. He crossed the clearing to the donkeys' she

carrying it off well, that the camp must appear normal to any lurkers in the woods. But either they had made some slip or the enemy was impatient. An arrow sped out of the night to flash across the

lf-frozen ground, they started to work their way to the rive

elt McNeil's warm breath o

way! He's the best we h

he passing of one of the attackers. Both times Ross was tempted to rise and try to cut off the stranger, but he fough

tenaciously in shadowy places with cups of leftover snow, and there was a bite in the wind and water. Ross rose to his knees with an

Neil urgently. "Come on, let's go

d a sandbar at one spot. By crossing that shelf across the bed, they might hope to put water between them and the unknown enemy tonight. It would give them a breathing space, even tho

had last heard in Britain-the questing howl of a hunting

sh

part of his background that Ross started when the lump he had taken for a bush hunched forward to join them. Toget

sensed the approach of the man who struck him down from behind. One moment

. Forcing open his eyes, the dazzle of light was like a spear point striking directly into his h

oice. They were in a valley; a wolf had attacked him out of the bushes. Wolf?

e glare. It was hard to focus, but he fought to steady himself. There was some reason why it was necessary to move, to ge

a tree trunk. A four-footed creature with a red tongue hanging from its jaws. It came toward him stiff-l

uid thrown into his face aroused him to make a feeble protest and he saw, hanging

dark once again. When he aroused for the second time it was night and the pain in his head was dull

wed silver by firelight. Ross knew he had seen her before, but again where and when eluded him. She slipped a sturdy arm under his head and raised him while the world whirled about. The edge of the horn

gued the tribe into caring for a man they believed almost dead when they found him, and who nursed Ross back to life with knowledg

e sort of order. The matriarch of the tribe thirsted for knowledge. That same urge which had led her to certain experiments with herbs, had m

cloth as the strangers wore, everything she could learn of their lives and the lands through which they had come. She plied Ross with endless questions which he answered as best he could, for

wo skinning knives, some fishhooks, a length of cloth which Frigga appropriated. Ross eyed this spoil indifferently, making no claim upon it. His i

the same raiders who had wiped out the trading post. But at last thei

im unconscious beside the river. The young man whom Frigga had drawn back to sense and a slow recovery was Rossa of the Beaker people. This same Rossa nursed a ho

nsteady. His bow was gone, but Ross spent hours fashioning another, and he traded his copper bracelet for the

dy to leave, even though the gashes on his head were still tender to the touch. Ulff

could not give up, and the others left him there, his eyes on the forbidden heights, unhappy and tormented by more than the headaches which still came and went with painful re

trees pointed out a woodsman's blaze on a third tree trunk. The two halves of Ross's memory clicked together for an instant as he examined that cut. He knew that it marked a trace and he

couple of steps cut in the turf on a steep slope. Ross moved warily, alert to any sound. He might not be an expe

a rotted log to sleep, awakening once to the call of a wolf and

ght before when he saw five bearded, fur-clad men looking much the same as Ulffa's

g sight of them as they topped a rise well ahead or stopped to eat. It was late af

a stockade. He had seen towns vaguely like it before, yet it h

lad hunters, but others dressed quite differently. He started up with a little cry at the sight of

y warning that he, himself, was in danger. He had gotten to his knees to see better when out of nowhere a rope sang through the ai