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there?”
    “You don’t need
to rush it,” said Geraldine. “Wilhelm and Mislya will be leaving
almost immediately of course.”
    “I would like
to wait for the birth of my first grandchild,” said Unda looking at
her daughter-in-law.
    “That could be
arranged. It will take a while for the Lind to get here
anyway.”
    “The Lind?”
    “How else would
you be travelling?” teased Geraldine, “did you think we would
expect you to walk?”
    “Will we ride?”
asked Eitel in excitement.
    “Yes, unless
you can work out a way to run as fast as the Lind can.”
    “Great!” Eitel
rocked back in his chair in a state of bliss.
    Jsei poked his
snout through the doorway.
    “Greetings from
Susa of pack Jalkei,” he announced. “Congratulations too.”
    “How did they
know?” asked Wil.
    “The Lind
always know,” answered Geraldine. “The Lindar on patrol duty knew
we were in the area as soon as we crossed the border and in all
likelihood the reason why as well.”
    She looked at
Jsei who was listening with interest to the conversation.
    “I told Jalkei
Susa,” Jsei informed them. “It is good manners when we pass into
another’s rtatha.”
    “What is that
word?” asked the irrepressible Eitel.
    “Rtatha?”
    He nodded.
    “Pack-range,”
explained Geraldine, “you will be learning lots of Lindish when you
arrive in Vadath.”
    “But Argyll
isn’t their pack-range,” protested Wil.
    “No, but they
are the duty Lindar here. This area is their responsibility.”
    “Take it very
seriously do you? Duty?” asked Wil of Jsei.
    “We are allies
and friends,” answered Jsei, “it not only the Larg that make
danger.”
    “Not only the
Larg?” squeaked Unda. “What does he mean?”
    She glanced out
of the window as if she expected large scaly monsters to be waiting
outside to eat them all up.
    “Wral and
gtran,” said Jsei, squeezing himself through the doorway. He sat
down beside the others who moved their chairs aside to make
room.
    Unda seemed
rather nonplussed as she recognised the fact that here was a Lind
sitting quite at home in her living room but managed to pull
herself together. “What are they?” she asked.
    “Large and
nasty predators that live in the north,” answered Geraldine. “They
come south to hunt. I’ve never seen any myself and I hope the
images of them I’ve seen through Jsei’s memories are
exaggerated.”
    “I not
exaggerate,” insisted Jsei, “I fought them.”
    “Some of the
Councillors don’t think they are dangerous,” said Wil.
    “They also
think the threat from the south is over and don’t believe we need
the Lindars camped on our doorstep,” added Unda.
    Jsei laughed
aloud.
    “We have some
who think same,” he admitted, “they like not changes.”
    “Robert
Lutterell is having similar trouble with some settlers,” added Wil,
“it’s a small group, but a noisy one.”
    “Are these
troublemakers colonising round Settlement area?” asked Geraldine
with interest.
    “No,” he
answered, “mostly up north, east of here, on the coast and inland a
ways.”
    “Their opinion
might change after they meet their first gtran.”
    Wil shrugged,
“that remains to be seen and personally I am glad they are
distancing themselves from the rest of us.”
    “Let’s hope
they don’t cause too many problems,” said Geraldine, resolving to
tell Francis and Jim about this development. She turned to Unda,
“can I help prepare supper?” she asked. “I’m a dab hand at spicy
baked root casserole.”
    Eitel’s eyes
brightened with anticipation. “If Geraldine is helping that means I
don’t have to,” he suggested to his mother.
    “After you have
dug them up from the garden,” she answered pointing at the spade
propped up against the doorframe.
    He got up from
his chair with a sigh.
    Jsei watched
him, caught his eye and winked. He stood up.
    “Leave the
spade,” he instructed Eitel, “I will show you how we Lind do
digging for roots.”
    Boy and Lind
left the