Chapter four
Diomb and BambaA clattering commotion broke out ahead along the trail. A trilling noise as of a cage full of parakeets all shrilling away and fluttering their wings against the bars of the cage mingled with sharper shrieks of rage and pain.
Seg put out a hand to halt Milsi and she walked on for a moment so that her stomach pressed against Seg’s sinewy palm. She was highly conscious of the contact; Seg did not notice.
He stared evilly along the trail, tensed ready for action and yet perfectly relaxed. When he had sized up the situation out there his brain would tell his muscles what to do. They would respond instantly. That was the secret, albeit a simple one, of readiness for action.
Presently, as the uproar continued unabated, without gaining or losing volume, he padded c
