“No, but if they catch us there won’t be anything left to eat anyway!”
There was no place to go for protection. We had to get out of that canyon. But it was too far away. No way could we outrun this charging herd. I looked back again and saw that they were catching up, fast. It was like racing against an avalanche and we were losing. I started to feel the prickle of grit on my neck from the cloud of dirt they were stirring up. In seconds we’d be roadkill. Or canyonkill.
“There!” shouted Loor.
She pointed to the canyon wall ahead of us, where I saw a single, brown vine that snaked down from somewhere above.
“Follow me!” Loor ordered, and ran for it.
There was only one vine. Even if it was strong enough, which I wasn’t sure about, there was barely time for one of us to climb. The herd would be on us in seconds.
“Jump on my back!” Loor commanded.
What? Was she crazy?
“Now!” she demanded, and grabbed the vine.
I wasn’t about to argue. I could feel the ground rumble with the thumping of oncoming hooves. Loor grabbed the vine and I grabbed Loor, wrapping my arms around her neck. She climbed, hand over hand, with her boots on the wall, walking up. I dangled from her neck, hoping she had the strength to do this and hoping the vine was strong enough to hold us both.
The cattle were on us. But we were high enough to be out of harm’s way. They charged past as if we weren’t even there. The mass of animals thundered by only inches below us. I could feel the heat coming up from their bodies. Or maybe it was my own sweat.
“You okay?” I asked Loor.
Loor gave a quick nod. No problem. I could feel the strength in her shoulders and arms. I shouldn’t have doubted her. This was cake for her. Now all we had to worry about was whether the vine would hold until the herd was past.
The cattle kept coming. I couldn’t believe how many there were. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the herd started to thin, so they weren’t close to the canyon wall anymore.
And the vine snapped. Loor and I tumbled to the dirt. Luckily I broke Loor’s fall. Lucky for her, that is. It wasn’t so hot for me. She landed on me full force and knocked the wind out of my lungs. Ooof! It took me about a minute to catch my breath, but I didn’t care. We had survived. I glanced up and saw a few straggling cattle trotting after the herd. The rumbling sound of hooves grew faint. I glanced to the end of the canyon and saw the herd spreading out over the green meadow.
“How do you feel?” Loor asked. She was sitting in the dirt, barely winded from the ordeal.
“I feel like a genius,” I said.
“A genius?”
“We’ve only been here two minutes and you’ve already saved my butt. I knew it was the right move to bring you along. Thanks, Loor.”
Loor stood up and helped me to my feet. We started to brush the dust off our clothes when we heard: “What in blazes are you two doing here?”
We looked up to see two cowboys on horseback trotting up to us. These guys were definitely out of the Old West, complete with cowboy hats, leather chaps, and coils of rope around the horns of their saddles.
Neither looked like Dr. Zetlin.
One cowboy asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” I answered.
“We checked the whole canyon before we drove the herd through,” the other cowboy said. “Where did you two come from?”
“We must have wandered in right after you checked,” I said. It was sort of the truth.
“You coulda gotten killed! What’re you doing all the way up here?”
“We’re looking for somebody,” I answered. “Up here? In the pass?” the first cowboy asked, totally confused.
“Yeah, well, we got lost,” I said. “His name is Zetlin. Do you know him?”
The first cowboy looked at the other and asked, “That the name of the fella staying down in Old Glenville?”
“Could be,” the second cowboy said with a shrug.
The first guy then looked at me and Loor and said, “There’s a man living down in town who might be the one you’re looking for. You been through there?”
“No,” I said with growing excitement. “Could you point the way?”
“Sure,” he answered. “Where are your horses?” Loor and I looked at each other and shrugged. “We lost ‘em,” I said. Wow, could I have given a more lame excuse?
“Lost your horses?” the second cowboy exclaimed. “How did you go and do that?”
“Long story,” I said. “We can walk.”
“It’s too far,” the first cowboy said. “We’ll lend you horses.”
“Really? That’s great!”
“Climb on,” the second guy said.
Loor and I each climbed on to the back of one of the horses, behind the cowboys. A second later we were trotting out of the canyon. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but way better than walking.
When we reached the mouth of the canyon, I got a full view of the beautiful mountain pass. It was awesome. The dry, rocky canyon gave way to green, rolling meadows that stretched out as far as I could see. The mountains in the distance were immense. I had never seen the Rockies, but this was what I imagined they looked like. It was another example of Veelox looking like Second Earth. Or at least an example of Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy looking like Second Earth. Whatever. It was great.
The two cowboys rode us over to a wagon where they had two more horses hitched. While they saddled up the fresh horses, they explained that they were bringing in the herd for the winter, and often stayed up in the mountains for weeks at a time. That’s why they had four horses. If one got hurt, they didn’t want to have to go back into town to get a replacement. They said that they were nearly done for the season, so they wouldn’t mind lending us these two. They told us to leave them with the blacksmith in town. They’d be down in a few days to pick them up.
Man, these guys were pretty trusting. But then again, this was Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy. Maybe he only put trustworthy people into his jumps.
I had ridden horses a couple of times, at summer camp. So I was comfortable enough to mount up and trot along. But I wasn’t sure about Loor. Did she know how to ride? The answer came when Loor jumped up on her horse like a pro, tugged the reigns, and got her horse to spin in a circle one way, then the other. Show-off. I should have known.
“Follow the worn trail down out of the pass,” the first cowboy explained. “It’s pretty well traveled; you won’t miss it. You should reach town before sunset.”
“Thank you,” Loor said.
“Yeah,” I added. “You really saved us.”
“Aw, heck,” the second cowboy said. “It’s the least we could do for nearly getting you killed back there.”
After a few more thank-yous, Loor and I were on our way to town. It was an awesome ride. The slope was gentle, the air was warm, and the countryside was spectacular.
Loor didn’t look half bad, either. Ever since I first met Loor, I had been trying to prove myself to her. She was an athlete and a warrior. I’d seen her battle guys twice her size and make them look bad. Next to her, I was a total weenie. But she wasn’t all about muscle. Loor had a strong sense of right and wrong. She totally believed in the Travelers and our mission. Her mother died battling Saint Dane’s evil, and I think that made her even more dedicated. But after all we’d been through, I didn’t know how Loor felt about me. Yeah, she was on my side because we were both Travelers, and I know she respected me for some of the things I had done, but I think that’s as far as it went. I thought of Loor as a good friend. I think she only thought of me as a teammate.
We had a long ride into Old Glenville, and there was a lot I wanted to talk to her about. I figured this was as
