promise to be a much better Ned in the future. Honest I will!"
Hand over hand, Ben moved along the fissure until it became broader and deeper, then levered
himself up and found that he could wedge his feet in and stand upright. The mastiff's snuffling
and baying seemed quite close now—and he could hear Rouge urging and threatening Domba
along.
"Don't stand still, fool, you'll freeze with fright. Keep goin', they can't be far ahead!"
Dominic tied the cloak end around Karay's waist, instructing her, "Try to climb. Ben'll pull
you up if you slip."
The girl ventured gingerly out. She had not gone more than a few feet when she slipped. Ben
braced himself. "Hang on, mate. Wait until you've stopped swinging, then climb!"
Karay shut her eyes tight. She swung to and fro like a pendulum, then caught her foot on a
rough spot and began attempting to climb. Ben heaved stoutly on the rope, pulling her up until
he reached her with his hands. Perching in the rocky-crack, she undid the cloak rope. Ben
knotted a piece of rock into the end and swung it back to Dominic.
Ben called out Ned's thoughts, instructing Dominic on what to do. "Tie it round Ned, under
his front legs. Give him a bit to hold on to with his teeth, then swing him out."
Dominic complied with the orders. Ned went swinging out into space, still mentally
beseeching the angel, "Oooooh! Listen, good angel, do the same for me as you did for Ben,
and I promise to make a better boy of him. Just don't let Dominic's hands slip, dear sweet nice
angel!"
A moment later, Ben and Karay had hauled Ned up into the crack. Dominic's shout reached
them, loud and urgent. "Throw the rope back, quick, they're here!"
The mastiff's ugly head poked around the bend of the ledge, followed by a white-faced
Domba, then the triumphant Rouge, who snarled at his companion. "Hand that chain to me!
I'll watch Gurz, you get past the dog an' grab the lad. The others'll climb back here when they
see what I do to him. Go on, move yourself, slowcoach!"
Flattening himself against the ledge wall, Domba inched past the mastiff. Dominic reached out
to the swinging rope and missed it. He caught it on the second swing, at the same moment that
Domba grabbed his shoulder with one hand. Seizing the rope with both hands and his teeth,
Dominic swung out with Domba clinging to him. Ben and Karay, with the help of Ned's jaws,
leaned back and took the strain of both bodies. The cloak made a ragged, tearing sound as
Dominic spun. Domba was still clinging behind him as they hit the rock face. His head
cracked against it and he let go.
"Yeeeeeaaaaarrrrr!"
Dominic tried not to look at the robber's body sailing through empty space. As he felt the
cloak rope ripping, he babbled out a stream of entreaties. "Pull me up, Ben, pull me up pull
me up don't let me fall, Ben, please please please!"
Next thing he knew, Dominic was clutching both of Ben's hands as Karay and Ned clung
grimly to the shredding rope. "It's alright, Dom, I've got you, safe and sound. Up ye come!"
Rouge looked across to where the four escapees perched in the crack on the mountain face. He
wagged a finger at them, as if reproving naughty children. "Done it now, ain't ye. Gone an'
killed my poor friend Domba!"
Karay shouted back at the robber. "Rubbish, it was his own stupid fault, you'll get the same if
you try anything!"
Rouge shook his head and laughed. "Hoho, brave words, little maid. But I ain't tryin'
anything. You an' your pals are stuck there with no place to go.... Come on, climb back over
here, I won't hurt ye!"
Ben had seen the robber's type before—quite a few times. He threw back his head and
laughed at Rouge. "Haha, who d'you think you're trying to fool? We know you're a Razan.
We'll stay right here, thankee!"
Rouge wound the mastiff's chain around his hand as he replied. "Right then, you stay there.
As for me, I'll go back to camp an' get some others. We'll be back, carryin' muskets!"
He noted the stunned silence and the anxious looks the young people exchanged. "Ain't so
cheeky now, are ye?"
Ben caught Ned's thoughts in the pause which followed. "Dear angel, remember those
promises I made to you? Well, er, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to break them a bit. But it's
all in a good cause, to save my friends' lives. So forgive me!"
Ned teetered on the edge of the crack, tail straight out, hackles rising and teeth bared. The
black Labrador began barking, growling and snarling thunderously at Gurz. Ben took hold of
his dog's collar. "Ned, what's wrong, boy?"
But Ned ignored him, rearing up on his hind legs, straining against the hand holding his collar.
Foam flecked from the Labrador's mouth as he howled like a wild animal at the mastiff.
Gurz howled back and set up a series of short angry barks.
Rouge tugged on the dog's chain. "Quit that row, ye great idiot!"
Ned barked in return, roaring furiously. The rock face resounded with the noise of both dogs,
then without warning Gurz took off, dragging Rouge with him. The robber's feet skidded on
the ice as the huge mastiff pulled him forward. Gurz made a massive leap out into space, as
though he were trying to reach the crack with a mighty bound. But he never made it. Both
man and mastiff plummeted into the valley, howling the last sounds they would make on this
earth. It was a long way down—they looked like two black spots crumpled on the rocky
foothills.
Dominic could only shake his head in bewilderment. "What happened there?"
Ned explained mentally to Ben. "I made some nasty remarks about his parents, his mother the
donkey and his father the pig. Then I challenged him to a fight, but I said that he could never
jump this far, like I had!"
Ben stroked his dog's head, staring into the liquid brown eyes. "But we swung you on the rope
from the ledge to here."
Ned managed a doggy look of innocence. "Aye, but he hadn't arrived to see that part. Mastiffs
aren't too bright, y'know. I'm sorry I had to do it, but that redheaded rogue didn't leave us too
much choice. 'Twas either that or get shot."
Ben ruffled his friend's ears. "I'm sure the angel will forgive you. I certainly do, it was a very
clever idea!"
Bright morning sun began driving away the clouds and warming the air. Dominic flexed his
stiff legs. "Well, friends, where to now?"
As if in answer to the question, there was a piteous call. "Maaaahaaah!"
Ben pointed back to the narrow ledge. "Goats!" Two of the creatures stood staring at them
across the void, shaggy-coated, cloven-hoofed and with expressions of curiosity in their odd
eyes. By the difference in their sizes, they looked like a nanny goat and her little kid. The
mother nuzzled her little one as it stood bleating, "Maaah maaaaahaaah!"
A voice from around the bend called to them. "Sissy, Paris, what've I told you about running
off like that? If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times!"
A large, strong-looking woman clad in man's attire came around the bend. Over the rough
cloak she wore was a coil of rope with an ice axe tucked into its loops. She tended to the
goats, shooing them back off along the ledge, before turning her homely, weather-beaten face
to the four friends. "What are ye doing out there, children? You don't look like Razan, but
who can tell these days?"