Nibbling and sipping, they bided their time. Gradually the greyness was replaced with a
golden glow that began permeating their snowy prison. Ned wagged his tail. "Looks like a
nice sunny day!"
Ben pushed the offending tail away. "It might if I could see properly. Keep your tail still,
mate!"
He felt around until he unearthed Arnela's ice axe. Ben poked it forward and tapped gently.
"Feels like a solid block of ice trapping us in here. What d'you think, Dom?"
The facemaker took the axe from Ben, reversing it until he was holding the metal head. He
probed over his shoulder with the butt of the shaft, pushing at a space above him. Loose snow
showered down on them.
Karay encouraged him. "That's the way, give it a good hard shove!"
Dominic shook his head, murmuring as he probed. "Gently does it, don't want to bring the
whole lot down on us." He pushed further with the haft until it slid forward easily, then
withdrew it.
A golden circle of light shone down, centering between Ned's ears. The air began freshening
immediately. Ben laughed. "Well done, sir. You've saved our lives!"
They took turns. Working carefully, each one widened the hole, waggling the ice axe and
pulling down chunks of ice and frozen snow. As water droplets came down, Ned held out his
tongue and caught a few.
Karay knotted the rope about her waist and stood in a crouch. "I'm the slimmest and lightest,
so I'll go first. You men, take one of my feet each and give me a good boost."
Ben and Dominic cupped their hands, making stirrups for her feet, then lifted. Her head rose
into the hole above. She called back to them. "Right, one, two, three. Hup!" Their heads
banged the ice wall as they jerked her upwards.
Karay fell out and forward at the same time, enlarging the hole; then she disappeared. A
moment later, her head appeared in the hole. "Ned can come next! Pass him up. Here, boy,
give me your paws, good dog, come on!"
The Labrador rose into the sunlight, dispensing cheery thoughts. "Hey, hup! This is good
fun!"
Ben did not exactly return the sentiment. "Huh, it should be, you're sitting on my head, you
great broad-beamed hound!"
Soon all four were standing out in the fresh, sunlit mountain morning air. Dominic swelled out
his chest and thumped it cheerfully with both fists. "Well friends, onward and upwards, eh?"
A strange voice answered him. "Aye, lad, that's the way we're goin' too. Let's all go together!"
Ligran Razan and five of his followers strolled out from behind the rock that the friends had
been trapped against.
Ben was stunned. He shot Ned a swift thought. "Don't move, mate, they're too well armed.
Don't try anything!"
The black Labrador speedily replied, "Watch out for me, Ben, I'll be around!" He streaked off
down the mountain.
One of Ligran's men unslung a rifle and grabbed a powder flask from his belt.
Ligran stuck out a foot and tripped him. "D'you want to start another avalanche, idiot? Let the
dog go, it ain't important. Well, now, what've we got here? Two handsome boys an' a pretty
girl." He drew his sword and placed the point against Ben's chest. "What are ye doin' this high
up in our mountains, lad?"
Ben tried to look simple and friendly at the same time. "We're travellers, crossing over into
Spain, sir."
Ligran's sword flashed in the sunlight. Ben felt the sharp sting as the flat of the blade slapped
him across the cheek.
The Razan leader snarled viciously at him. "Liar! Travellers go through the pass, south of here
in Andorra. Now tell me the truth or I'll slice the nose off you!"
Karay stepped boldly in front of Ben. She faced Ligran. "He told you, we're going to Spain.
Now I'm telling you. Go on, cut my nose off, you coward. I'm not armed like you!"
Ligran raised the sword and struck. It sheared off a dark ringlet of the girl's hair. Karay did
not flinch. Ligran let his sword fall and laughed. "I like a maid who has spirit. We'll see how
much you have left when Maguda's finished questioning you. You've heard of Maguda Razan
—she's my sister."
Karay laughed in Ligran's face. "If all her brothers are as ugly as you, I feel sorry for her!"
The blade quivered a moment in Ligran's grip; his eyes narrowed savagely. Then he turned
away and rapped out orders. "Take their rope an' tie them together, hands an' necks! If we
hurry we'll arrive back just after the two I sent ahead with the bear. Use your clubs an' beat
them if they try to lag behind!"
Tied together with Arnela's rope looping their hands to their necks, the three friends shuffled
forward. Ben spoke out of the side of his mouth to Dominic, who was behind him. "Well, at
least we won't get lost on our way to the Razan hideout."
A cudgel cracked sharply against his shin. A lanky, scar-faced villain waggled the weapon in
Ben's face. "Shut your mouth, boy, or I'll break your leg. That goes for you other two. You're
prisoners now, so march!"
23
HUDDLED forlornly on the floor of the big cave, the bear uttered a piteous moan. Razan men
and women formed a circle around the animal, watching it curiously. The two who had been
sent ahead with it held the neck chains slackly, averting their eyes when Maguda spoke. The
matriarch of all the Razan leaned forward slightly. Her huge hypnotic eyes pinpointing on the
wretched animal, she croaked venomously, "Ye'll dance before I'm through with ye. Guards,
take this thing out of my sight. Away to the dungeons with it!"
Men hauled on the chains, forcing the bear into an upright position. It made a mournful noise
as the spikes inside its iron collar dug into its neck fur. They were dragging the bear away,
when Rawth, the eldest of Maguda's brothers, entered the cavern and approached his sister.
The hypnotic eyes swivelled in his direction. "Thou hast come to tell me that our brother
Ligran approaches, this I already know."
Rawth shrugged uneasily. "He brings captives, two boys and a girl, but no black dog is with
them."
Maguda hissed like an angry snake. "Ssssstupid men! Would that I had the strength in my
limbs that mine eyes possess. It is I who would have captured all four. Bad omens portend
misfortune if the dog is not in my grasp. Bring the prisoners straight here to me when they
arrive. Go now, help thy brother!"
Ben stumbled in deep snow, and a guard poked him in the back with the butt of Arnela's ice
axe. The boy straightened and struggled on uphill, his mind worried by lack of communication
with Ned.
Dominic whispered furtively, as if privileged to his friend's thoughts. "Wonder where Ned is.
Not like him to run off."
Karay overheard him and replied shortly, "If I was as fast as a dog, I'd have made a run for it,
too. What was he supposed to do—wait around to be captured, or shot?"
One of the guards pushed the girl roughly. "Shut your mouth!"
Ben spoke aloud to distract the robber's attention from her. "Ned's more use to us running
free. He'll help us—mark my word, he's no ordinary dog."
Ligran Razan turned and pointed his sword at Ben. "One more word from you, lad, an' I'll
chop your tongue off!"
Ben decided it was wiser to keep silent from then on. The Razan leader looked like a villain
who would take delight in carrying out his threats. Cruelty and a volatile temper were stamped
all over Ligran's coarse features. So Ben held his silence, even as the mouth of the cave came