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so we’d better clear out.”
    “So you did…” Stephanie giggled.
    “And was praised for my prudence,” Karl said, a lopsided grin turning up one corner of his mouth. “Of course, they’re going to find out eventually, but why add to their stress?
    *   *   *
    < Are you badly burned? > Climbs Quickly asked Left-Striped.
    < My hand-feet and true-feet are tender, > the other admitted, < and I have some blisters where sparks or flying embers burned through my fur. Nothing at all serious. I am more worried about my brother. He is very sluggish. >
    < We are going to one who can help him, > Climbs Quickly said reassuringly. His mind voice filled with images of Healer, the father of Death Fang’s Bane. < This one specializes in helping those who have been wounded—and not only those of his own type. I have seen him help his daughter or mate, but usually he gives his skills to other bloods. He is the one who saved my life after a death fang tore me into little more than bloodied scraps of fur. >
    < I have heard that song, >Left-Striped said, a note of excitement coloring his mind voice. < When I realized that your voice was coming from the two-leg’s flying thing, I wondered if the one who had offered hope when there was none might be you. >
    Climbs Quickly felt pleased at this generous recognition, but he did not bask in it.
    < Then you realize that the two-leg who came out onto the burning green-needle is the one our people call Death Fang’s Bane? >
    < Yes. She is as brave as the songs tell. >
    < We are going to her home. She is a youngling by their count. Her father is a healer. Her mother does interesting things with plants. It was in the clear-walled plant place attached to their house that I first tasted cluster stalk. >
    < And were seen in the process, > added Left-Striped, his mind voice mingling admiration for boldness with traces of disapproval. < The elders of our clan—my brother and I are of the Damp Ground Clan—are still arguing as to the wisdom of Bright Water’s choice. As for me, having been saved when I had no belief such rescue was possible, I am interested in learning more about the two-legs. >
    < They are as different from each other as the People are, > Climbs Quickly cautioned. < One cannot meet Death Fang’s Bane or Darkness Foe—both of whom have shown themselves friends and protectors of the People—and say “Now I know what two-legs are.” There are those such as Speaks Falsely or the one who caused the burning destruction of Bright Heart Clan who also walk on two legs. >
    Much of this conversation was augmented with a flow of images. There was no chance that Left-Striped would mistake which specific two-leg Climbs Quickly referred to. The names were accompanied by mental images: sharp in the case of Darkness Foe and Speaks Falsely, both of whom Climbs Quickly had met personally, less sharp in the case of those he had only heard about from another treecat. The People could lie—however, when they did, it was usually by leaving out some important piece of information, as Sings Truly had done when encouraging the Bright Water Clan to come to the rescue of Climbs Quickly and a “youngling.”
    < I think, > said Left-Striped, < based upon what you have shown me, that there must be greater variation between these two-legged people than there is among our own people. They have no memory singers to bind them together with shared histories. From what we witnessed when Speaks Falsely preyed upon the People, they find it all too easy to deliberately hide what they are doing from each other. >
    Considering what he had seen Death Fang’s Bane do, such as her venture in the pilot’s seat of the air car earlier that day, Climbs Quickly could only agree.
    Left-Striped went on. < This lack of shared stories would make for dangerously varied ways of behaving. How can the People know which of the two-legs can be trusted and which should be avoided? >
    A good question, Climbs Quickly thought to