“Good runners,” Cully gave credit. “Do you suppose they were always wild-or the descendants of domestic stock? Bet Harmon’d like to have a couple of them. He was pretty fed up when he found we couldn’t bring those two colts he had picked out.”
“The big one was a fighter! D’yuh see him shake them horns?” demanded Santee. “I wouldn’t want him to catch me out in the open walkin’.”
“Odd.” Dard had been watching the far end of the grove and was now puzzled. “You’d think they’d keep on running. But they’re staying in there.”
“Under cover. Safe from any menace from the air,” Kimber said. “Which suggests some unpleasant possibilities.”
“A large flying danger!” Dard whistled as he caught Kimber’s idea. “A thing maybe as big as this sled. But it would be too big to fly on its own power!”
“Bigger things than this have flown in Terra’s past,” the pilot reminded him. “And it may not be a living thing they fear-but a machine. Either way-we’d better watch out.”
“But those flying things were far back in our history,” protested the boy. “Could such primitive things exist along with man-or whatever built that city?”
“How can we say what may or may not have survived here? Or-if that city was destroyed by radioactive missiles- -what may have mutated? Or what may fly machines?”
Since the duocorns remained stubbornly in hiding, the sled gave up investigation and flew east, the setting sun behind them and long afternoon shadows stretching to point their path.
“Where we gonna camp?”.Santee wanted to know. “Out here somewheres?”