‘Then see what you can do for this poor fellow.’ He nodded to Maxwell, who lay writhing in agony on the ground. ‘We’ll get him down to the street, clear of the lava first. Then you go to work on him while we rig up some sort of a stretcher.’
We got Maxwell and the other two to the street and went down as far as the piazza. We were safe there for the time being. There was a pile of bedding on the broken cart and we laid Maxwell on a mattress and covered him with some blankets and a quilt. Hilda said she thought she could set the leg temporarily at any rate. ‘What we need is some sort of a conveyance,’ Hacket said to me. ‘There’s those other two guys can’t walk far and we can’t carry Maxwell, let alone them. You look about all in and I’m not feeling so fresh myself.’
I told him about the other lava streams then and how they threatened our line of retreat through Avin. He nodded. ‘We’ll have to hustle.’
I suddenly remembered. ‘George!’ I said. ‘George may get us clear in time.’ I looked about the piazza. There was no sign of a living thing. ‘I wonder where he’s got to?’
‘Who’s George?’
‘My mascot. A mule I rescued from a building. I let him go just outside the monastery.’
‘He’s probably bolted out into the country by now. Come on. We got to find something.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I don’t think he’ll have bolted. He’s the sort of animal that likes the company of humans. I don’t think he’d go out of the village.’ I began calling.
‘How do you expect him to recognise a name you’ve only just given him?’ Hacket said irritably. ‘Come on. We’ve got to do something practical.’
But I was feeling obstinate. Perhaps it was because I was so darned tired. But I had a feeling that I’d saved that animal to meet just such an emergency. ‘He’s probably in a grocery store somewhere,’ Hacket said sarcastically.