Free Quest for the King by John White Page B

the narrowness of the trail.
    "Are there no limits to this folly?" Gerachti demanded, furious.
    Alleophaz stopped and turned to face him. "Stop behaving like a
child! In Risgah, when I was looking for the three children I saw in
my-whatever it was that happened to me-you insisted on hiring the
three men. Perhaps it was as well you did, or we may never have met
the children. These are the children. And they are guided by the same
being who addressed me nearly two years ago. They know more about what we are doing than you or Belak or myself. Get rid of your absurd
pride. It will precede a personal catastrophe if you do not."

    Gerachti stared back at him, his lips pressed tightly together. Then
he turned to Belak and muttered something.
    "Please, Gerachti, please!" they heard Belak half whisper, half
squeal.
    For nearly half an hour they labored up the steep incline, and
finally emerged onto a knife-edge ridge, just wide enough for them
to mount and ride. There was no sense of height. Tall trees rose above
their heads from the slopes on either side, giving them a sense of
security. The trail led them along a meadow which broadened steadily, and for about three hours they hardly changed direction at all.
Then, to their surprise, they saw a roadway curving out of a wood to
join the direction in which their trail led. It was about six feet across,
muddy, and bore the marks of horses' hooves.
    Gerachti seemed pleased. He looked at Kurt. "Congratulations,
young sir. You seem to have done better than I thought. Now we shall
be able to follow the upper road."
    Kurt looked startled. "No-I'm afraid not. We're going to have to
descend again."

    "Because it's the way we're supposed to go."
    There was a long pause. Finally Gerachti said, "Well, it is not the
way Belak and I will go. With your permission, my lord, we will take
one of the pack horses and meet up witliyou in Bamah. I am grateful
to have come this far with you, but I-"
    "But you will proceed alone. Belak and the pack horses will stay
with us," Alleophaz said quietly but firmly.
    Gerachti's began to tremble, but with rage rather than fear. Then,
in a husky voice he said, "Very good, my lord, may it go well with you
all." He turned, not in the direction of Anthropos and of Bamah, but
of Risgah-the port from which the three men had come. He spurred
his horse to a gallop, and they watched him disappear along the road
into the wood.

    "Shall I continue, my lord?" Kurt asked eventually.
    Alleophaz sighed. "Yes, we may as well. Lead on until we come
across a spring, and we will stop for a drink"
    They soon found one, and rested awhile after they had drunk from
it, having first watered the horses and mules. They also splashed water
over themselves.
    The summer evening light was slowly fading.
    "Have you thought how we shall spend the night?" Alleophaz
asked. "We do have bedrolls."
    "I suspect Gaal has a place for us to sleep-perhaps even a meal,"
Kurt said. "Maybe we'll find a Gaal tree. Uncle John told us about
them. They're absolutely amazing." His eyes were sparkling and there
was merriment playing around his mouth. Clearly his mood was buoyant.
    Alleophaz said, "I gather from one of Kurt's remarks that you children have experience in caring for horses, as well as in riding them
and harnessing."
    "Yes, my lord," Wesley said.
    "Very sensible. I think all children of your own station in life should
be taught things of that sort. Tell me, for one gold Anthropos crown
a day for each of you, would you consider taking care of the horses?"
    "My lord, you cannot expect children of this sort to act as our
servants!" Belak sounded distressed.
    "No, I agree. But that is not what I intended. I doubt they have
money with them, and they look like children who are accustomed to
having plenty!"
    "If only he knew!" Wes thought.
    "What I am suggesting is that I provide them with a little pocket
money, but that I would appreciate it if they would do something