“You still have your horse?” She looked at him with a new curiosity.
“No. I don’t have any of them now. But I miss that one the most.” He nodded to the sentries and reined his mount around. “Come on.”
Steve rode a short distance away from the sentries and all the small buildings in the little settlement. Marcia followed him. When he was out of the hearing of everyone else, he leaned close to Marcia.
“We’ll pretend we’re talking to each other, since people can see us. I’m calling Hunter.”
“All right.”
“Hunter, Steve here.”
For once, Hunter did not answer.
“Hunter, you there?”
Marcia’s eyes widened as she looked at Steve.
“Hunter?”
Only static hissed quietly from the lapel pin.
“Maybe my transmitter’s broken,” said Steve. “Try calling him on yours.”
Marcia switched on her pin. “Hunter? Marcia calling. Steve and I have reached the Great Wall.”
She, too, received only static and shut it off. “What do you think happened?”
Steve turned to look back the way they had come. “Maybe nothing. He was about a half day’s ride behind us, and we’ve come through some very rugged country, much rougher than the ground we covered yesterday. The mountains block radio signals. He’s probably still coming.”
“Then why could we communicate last night?”
“It depends on the configuration of the mountains and passes. The signal can bounce, too. It’s impossible to predict exactly where it will go.”
“Then you think he’s still coming?”
“Yeah.”
“So what are we going to do?”
Steve looked at the sky. The sun had gone behind the mountains, and the sky was reddening with sunset. The air had abruptly chilled even in the brief time since they had arrived at the gate.
Marcia waited, looking back up the road as though she hoped to see Hunter.
“Well, I guess we wasted a lot of time coming here,” said Steve.
“You think the Polos turned off the road somewhere along the way?”
“No,” said Steve. “If you remember, we haven’t passed any forks today.”
“I saw some paths. Hunting trails, most likely. These mountains provide game for the emperors.”
“I don’t think the Polos came this way at all. Xiao Li must have pulled a fast one from the very start. I should have figured that out last night, but so much was going on, I never thought it all through.”
“None of us did, with Jane and Hunter being carried off,” said Marcia. “But, as I asked you a moment ago, what are we going to do?”
“I guess we can take a room-two if you prefer-for the night. Hunter should arrive sometime later. Tomorrow, we can go back to Khanbaliq.”
“Oh, no. Some of the same people must be here in one of the inns.-the people who kidnapped Hunter and Jane.”
“Well…that’s true.” Steve looked around. The little town had three inns with stables, some small houses, and seven taverns. “This is a strange place.”
“Yes, it’s just a road stop, really. Travelers would account for the number of inns, of course. But only the garrison of guards on the Great Wall could support that many taverns in a settlement this size.”
“Do they live in the houses?”
“No. They’re garrisoned in the towers along the wall. The houses must be owned by some well-to-do tavern owners or innkeepers who can live separately from their businesses.” She shrugged. “Hard to tell, really.”
“Look, that group of travelers stayed together all day. At least, every time I saw them, they were still together. If they’ve taken rooms in the same inn, then we have two others where we can stay.”
“But they might have split up. Besides, how are we going to know where they are?”
“Come on.”
Steve reined his horse back around and rode to the nearest inn, where he stopped with Marcia outside the stable. Most of the horses were out of sight, but the hostler was grooming one. Steve had been hoping to recognize the horses belonging to the other group, but he had not taken any special notice of them yesterday.
“I’m going to look inside the inn,” said Steve. “Stay on your horse, all right?”
“All right.”
Steve dismounted and quietly walked up onto the front porch of the small wooden building. He opened the door and leaned inside, looking around. It was much like the inn in which they had stayed the night before, with a large room full of tables in front of a big fireplace. The furniture was more finely finished, carved and deeply polished, suggesting greater prosperity. Long, vertical landscape paintings hung on the walls.
“Welcome, friend.” A big, burly innkeeper hurried forward, smiling.
Past him, Steve recognized a couple of merchants from the group he wanted to avoid.
“Sorry,” Steve muttered quickly. He pulled out of the doorway and closed the door quickly behind him. From what he could tell, no one except the innkeeper had seen him.
“What happened?” Marcia asked.
“They’re in there,” said Steve, as he swung into the saddle. “That’s good, because now we know where they are. I don’t think anyone saw me.”
“Then we can stay at another inn.”
“I’ll do the same thing again, in case that group had to split up to get rooms.”
They rode to another inn. Again, Marcia waited outside. Steve looked inside this one and did not recognize any of the visitors who had sat down to dinner. He stepped inside, still looking around cautiously.
This time a slender, white-haired man approached him and bowed. “Good evening, stranger. Are you in need of lodging?”
“I may be,” said Steve. “I, uh, had an argument yesterday with other travelers along this road. I would like to avoid them if I can.”
“I see. Well, I have some soldiers here on their way south to Khanbaliq.”
“The ones I’m talking about are going north. some merchants and students, as well as soldiers.”
“I have no group like that.”
Steve grinned with relief. “Good. Uh, I have a companion. We’ll take two rooms. And two dinners.”
“Very well. I ask six coppers for each room.”
“Fine. I’ll take our horses to the stable.”
“Of course.”
As Steve hurried out, he realized that he had forgotten to bargain. It was too late now; he had revealed to the innkeeper that he had reason to avoid the other inns, which had ruined his bargaining position. He decided not to worry about it. In this case, a safe place to wait for Hunter was more important than exactly how much they spent.
The hostler was a tall, gaunt man with graying hair who walked stiffly with age. With a weary, uninterested nod, he took the reins from Steve and Marcia. Steve untied the cloth bag with their changes of clothes from the back of the saddle. As they started toward the inn, hoofbeats came through the gate and they turned to look.
A group of Mongol riders rode through the gate. Grinning, they arrogantly ignored the Chinese sentries who glared sullenly at them, and split up. Small knots of riders trotted toward different taverns and inns. Four young riders, dressed in furs with breastplates, backplates, and pointed steel caps, came toward Steve and Marcia.
“I guess the battalion was dismissed,” said Steve.
“Let’s get inside,” said Marcia. “I’m scared.”
“All right.”
They turned away.
“Ho! You there!” One of the soldiers called out in accented Chinese.
“Ignore him,” Marcia whispered. “Let’s just get inside.”
“I better not,” said Steve. “We don’t want to make them mad.” He turned and looked up at the riders. “Good evening,” he said in Mongol.
The lead rider raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You speak our language?”
“Yes, friend. And I see you have fine horses. We saw you ride a few minutes ago, beyond the wall.’ Steve figured a compliment would always be wise.
“The best in Mongolia.” The rider grinned, seeming to mock his own boasting. “You know horses?”
“A little,” Steve said modestly. He was certain that boasting himself would be a mistake. “I had a very fine one of a different desert breed once. She was the kind ridden by the Arabs.”
“Ah! My uncle rode against the Arabs in the west. He fought in Persia.”