'Yes. How did you know? And why are you whispering?"

She raised her voice slightly. 'I felt your presence near by soon after I came ash.o.r.e."

'You - you were on one of the boats?" stammered Steve. 'You actually came to the trading post?!" 'Did Mr Snow not tell you? Did he not show you the box?"

'What box?"

'The box with the hidden pictures that were to guide you to the place where Cadillac and I are held. I gave it to him the night before we sailed back to Ne-Issan."

Steve began to understand. 'When he came out to Yama-s.h.i.ta's vessel .

'Yes - with Rolling-Stone and Mack-Truck."

Steve responded with a dry, sighing laugh. 'So that's what he was up to. Trust me to do things the hard way.

When I saw him go by I was already on board one of the other wheelboats. I found a place to hide and stayed out of sight until we docked at Pi-saba." Steve didn't volunteer any further details. 'Did the Old One know he was coming to see you?"

'No. He seemed taken aback. Perhaps because I was unskinned."

'llnskinned' was the term Mr Snow had used to describe the true appearance of Clearwater and Cadillac in the brief period between washing off their camouflage and applying a fresh coat of paint.

'Yeah, I wanted to ask you about -' Clearwater cut in quickly.

'Yama-s.h.i.ta was present.

We were not free to say what we wished, but his hidden words told me you had returned and would try to rescue us. He did not say how or when."

'I was going to travel with the M'Call journeymen but Mr Snow wouldn't let me take any weapons on board. So I made my own travel arrangements. There was no way I was going to leave my quarterstaff behind - not after what you'd done to it."

'Did it help?"

'Are you kidding? If it wasn't for your magic act, I wouldn't be here.

You've saved my life several times over."

'Not I, golden one. The power was given to me by Talisman."

'Maybe. You I know, him I don't." Steve's voice lightened.

'If he's so keen on helping me he could at least have arranged for us to be on the same boat. We could have spent some time together. Would have made the trip a lot more enjoyable."

'It would have been utter madness. What you did was dangerous enough."

She sounded concerned- and a touch severe.

Steve kept it casual. 'No worse than the jam I'm in now.

But - on the other hand - here you are. Fate, I guess."

'Did you get back to your own people?"

'Eventually." There was no point in lying. He had already told Mr Snow the whole story. Or most of it.

'They weren't too pleased to hear that the Plainfolk weren't as stupid as they thought."

'Did you tell them about me?"

The lie tripped easily off his tongue. 'No, I didn't.

You're my secret weapon. When I'm with you I feel as if I could conquer the world." That part, at least, was true.

'Perhaps you are meant to,' she whispered. 'Is that what Cadillac has seen in the stones?"

'He has seen many things."

Steve felt his skin p.r.i.c.kle. 'Such as... ?"

'That you would return in the guise of a friend, with Death hiding in your shadow, and carry me away on a river of blood. Is that why you have come back? To take me down into the dark world of the sand-burrowers beneath the deserts of the south?"

'Are you crazy? I came back to be with you!" He squeezed her fingertips. 'Are you sure the stones said I would take you back to the Federation?"

'No. Cadillac didn't say where to. Just that you would carry me away."

'That's right,' said Steve hurriedly. 'That's why I'm here now because I promised Mr Snow I would get both of you out of here I The rest makes sense. I am in the guise of a friend because I'm hoping to do a pretend-deal with these people. As for the "death hiding in my shadow", I'd say that fits the hidden power you poured into the quarterstaff. Take it from me, it's lethal. I'm sure these j.a.ps won't let us get away without a fight, so maybe I will carry you away on a river of blood. But that blood will be running out of the veins of the Iron Masters. And the only place you're going is back where you belong."

'I belong to you, cloud warrior. As long as we are together I do not care where you take me. But Cadillac must go back to the Plainfolk."

'You're both going back. Trust me."

She drew her finger down over his lips and found the tip of his tongue.

'Do you think Talisman would put his power into your hands if you meant to harm us?"

It's not Talisman I'm thinking about. It's the other people in this game. And they're not using the same rule book...

Steve answered with another dry laugh and changed the subject.

'Amazing, isn't it - the way things work out? I came to the trading post because I wanted to be the first to welcome you back. I must have spent hours pacing up and down that beach, staring at those boats, willing you to appear. Why didn't you show yourself?"

'I was not allowed to do so. In the last two months I have seen almost nothing of the outside world."

'Who's been keeping you locked up - this guy Yamas.h.i.ta?"

'When I was on the boat, yes. But since I came to Ne-Issan with Cadillac I have been held by another."

'Held how? Who by?"