exertion and her eyes snapped with anger. She hauled on the reins of her pony. Behind her the entire string of animals appeared. Trap saw Ripple's whippik tied to a bundle on the pack pony.
'I don't believe it!' she snapped as the two gully dwarves grinned at her.
She glared at them and turned on Trap. 'You didn't get very far,' she said. Her attempt at a smug I-told- you-so was heavily tinged with relief.
'I'm going to talk to Orander about that ring,' Trap told her. 'He needs to put a second spell on it, so it doesn't carry a person over a cliff.' He gave them an account of his bad luck.
'I'm really glad we found you,' the wizard admitted, frowning at the gully dwarves. 'I can't get these idiots on their ponies.'
'Need ride ponies,' Grod said, pulling at his red-blond beard in his impatience. 'Kobolds run fast. Goblin run fast. Ponies run fast. Wizard run slow.'
'As much as I hate to admit it, Grod's right,' the small human female agreed.
'Beans! I want to go! I'll help them onto their ponies, but I'm going on ahead,' Trap said obstinately. 'I'll come back for you when I've found Ripple and Beglug.'
'You can go faster on a pony than on foot,' Halmarain said.
'Then I'll take mine-'
'No you won't. I bought them, they're all mine and they'll all stay together. To ride, you'll have to stay with us.' 'I could use the magic ring-'
'For how long before the limiter takes over or you go off another cliff?'
Trap frowned at the wizard. He didn't have an answer.
'And you need us to help you rescue the merchesti and Ripple,' Halmarain added. 'I know you want to find your sister, but no more than I want to rescue that little fiend. If we can't send him back, his parent may come to Krynn looking for him.'
'Waste time,' Grod said. 'No more talk.'
'Ride pony now.' Umpth nodded at his brother.
Trap stopped arguing and helped the gully dwarves mount. Halmarain volunteered to lead all the beasts with the exception of Trap's pony on one string while Trap rode ahead to search for the easiest path through the mountains. He was not to go too far ahead, she warned him.
'But what about finding the trail of the kobolds?' Trap demanded.
'We can find it on the other side of the mountains,' the little wizard said. 'They're traveling east. Directly east, even though they are taking the roughest paths. They won't be hard to locate on the plain.'
'Found trail once,' Umpth said.
'Did-did you find any sign…' Trap stopped, not wanting to voice his niggling fears over Ripple.
'Yes, and we know they were both alive this morning.' The little wizard nodded. 'Where they crossed a stream, we could see the marks where Beglug struggled to keep from stepping into the water. Off to the side were footprints Grod insisted were Ripple's. This was looped over the branch of a bush.' She held out a blue feather with two green beads sewn to the quill. Around it was a thin blue leather thong.
'It's Ripple's,' Trap crowed with delight. Occasionally she wove feathers into her topknot, and he had often seen her wear that particular decoration.
'If Beglug can fight and she can leave signs for us, they are both alive and uninjured,' Halmarain said. 'They are being taken east.'
'Then let's hurry,' Trap said, leading the way again. 'And on the way we'll make a plan.'
Trap found a low saddle between the mountains. Since they were not seeking a trail, Trap paced Halmarain. He was busy with his plans to rescue the captives.
'Here's what I think we should do,' he said. 'When we catch up with the kobolds, you, Grod, and Umpth will climb up in a tree where a limb juts out over-'
'How do you know there will be a tree?' the little wizard asked. 'And if the gully dwarves can't mount a pony without help, how can you get them up a tree?'
Trap frowned. 'Then we'll do this: we'll take a wagon-'
'Where are we going to get the wagon?' Halmarain asked.
'Thorns! Thistles! You don't like anything. Do you want to help rescue Ripple and Beglug or not?' Trap demanded.
'Yes!' the wizard spat out the word. 'But you can't make a plan until we find them.'
'Lava Belly eat kobolds, maybe,' Grod suggested.
'He wouldn't do that,' Trap objected, conveniently forgetting the innkeeper's dog in Deepdel.
'Oh, you never know, and it would be a fitting revenge,' Halmarain smiled. 'They may wish they had never taken him.'
'Why take Beglug?' Grod asked. 'Kender pretty, but Beglug mean.'
'Because…?' Trap's explanation became an echo of Grod's question.
'I don't know, and I don't like it.' Halmarain's eyes, already dark with worry, seemed to deepen.
'I certainly don't,' Trap announced pugnaciously, as if he resented anyone else's criticism of the capture. Ripple was his sister, and he was the most concerned.
'There's more than kobold meanness behind this,' Halmarain said. 'That's why we should be careful.'
'Man in black cloak,' Grod said, nodding.
'Oh. Yes. I'd forgotten about him,' Trap said. 'Was he with the kobolds?'
'I didn't see him,' the little wizard said. She and Trap turned inquiring gazes on the gully dwarves who shrugged their shoulders.
'He was with the kobolds on the mountains,' Halmarain said thoughtfully. 'And before that in the maze?' Trap nodded in response to her questioning frown. 'And they fought with goblins who could have followed them,' she continued. 'I think we can expect to find him with the kobolds when we catch them.'
'Who is he?' Trap asked. 'How do you know where they are heading? Do you know him and where he lives?'
'Lives? I doubt he lives; but yes, because of him I think I know where the kobolds are going.' Trap waited, but when the little wizard didn't explain, his natural impatience overrode his usual good temper.
'Well, are you going to tell us?'
'No. I'm not sure I'm right, and if I am you don't want to know,' she said, spurring her pony to greater speed. She kept the ponies at a gallop for a few minutes, but when her mount faltered she pulled him up.
'We've been riding these animals too hard,' she said. 'We should walk them and let them rest after we cross that stream.' She pointed a hundred yards ahead.
'Here's Ripple's print and Beglug's,' Trap said when he reached the bank of the stream. 'And the dwarves are ahead of us again.'
'The same ones?' Halmarain asked.
'It must be, because here is your pony's print. They crossed after the kobolds,' Trap told her as he studied the ground intently. 'Gee, look at this, a snail is crossing too.'
'How far ahead?' The little wizard asked.
'You'll pass him by the time you get to the water if you don't step on him.'
'Oh, forget it,' the wizard snapped. She forded the small stream and descended from the saddle. The gully dwarves dismounted and walked on ahead, rolling the wheel. They had not traveled far when Grod came running back.
'Wheel tell goblins come,' he gasped. 'Oh now it's telling the future,' Halmarain snapped.
'No tell, fall down!' the blond gully dwarf insisted. 'Umpth stop to pick up. Look back and see. They come.' Grod pointed back toward the top of the pass between the mountains.
'That doesn't mean the wheel found them,' Halmarain argued.
'She no like wheel,' Grod muttered, glaring at the little wizard, his blue eyes sparkling with anger.
'She really didn't mean it,' Trap soothed the feelings of the gully dwarf. 'Remember, she can do magic, but she can't tell if people are coming like the wheel can.'
'Oh, I really needed that!' Halmarain snapped. 'Still, if they're coming we'd better hide.'
Trap was ready to argue, but she forestalled him.
'If we let them pass us by we can be on our way that much faster.'
