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save fright. Papa," Gregory looked down at his father, from his seat on Fess's pack. "If the good peasant folk see us flying north, they would surely take alarm." Rod stared at his youngest for a moment, then turned to Gwen. "How old did you say he was? Three, going on what?"
    But Gwen frowned suddenly, and held up a hand. "Hist!" Rod frowned back. "The same to you."
    "Nay, nay, my lord! 'Tis danger! Good folk come, but flee toward us in full terror!"
    Rod's face went neutral. "What's chasing them?" Gwen shook her head. "I cannot tell. 'Tis human, for I sense the presence—yet there's a blank where minds should be."
    Rod noted the plural. "All right, let's prepare for the worst." He put two fingers to his mouth, and blasted out a shrill whistle.
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    Like tandem firecrackers, Magnus and Geoffrey popped out of nowhere, and Cordelia swooped down to hover behind them. "Why didst thou not but think for us. Papa?" Magnus inquired.
    "Because we're up against an enemy that can hear thoughts farther than whistles. All right, kids, we've got to set up an ambush. I want each of you high up in a tree, doing your best imitation of a section of bark. Your mother and I'll take the ground. When the enemy shows up, hit 'em with everything you've got."
    "What enemy. Papa?"
    "Listen for yourself. Mama says it's human, but nothing more."
    All four children went glassy-eyed for a moment, then came out of their trances with one simultaneous shudder.
    "Tis horrible," Cordelia whispered. "'Tis there, but—'tis not!"
    "You'll know it when you see it," Rod said grimly, "and just in case you don't, I'll think 'Havoc!' as loudly as I can. Now, scoot!"
    They disappeared with three pops and a whoosh. Looking up. Rod spotted three treetops suddenly swaying against the wind, and saw Cordelia soar into a fourth. "Which side of the road do you want, dear?"
    Gwen shrugged. "Both sides are alike to me, my lord."
    "What do you think you are, a candidate? Okay, you disappear to the east, and I'll fade into the left. I keep trying, anyway."
    Gwen nodded, and squeezed his hand quickly before she sped off the road. Leaves closed behind her. Rod stayed a moment, staring north and wondering; then he turned to the underbrush, muttering, "Head north about ten yards, Pess." The robot sprang into a gallop, and almost immediately turned off the road onto Rod's side.
    The leaves closed behind him, and Rod turned to face the roadway, peering through foliage. He knelt, and let his body settle, breathing in a careful rhythm, watching the dust settle.
    Then, around the curve of the roadway, they came—a dozen dusty peasants with small backpacks and haunted

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    faces. They kept glancing back over their shoulders. The tallest of them suddenly called out, jerked to a halt. The others hurried back to him, calling over their shoulders to their wives, "Go! Flee!" But the women hesitated, glancing longingly at the road south, then back at their husbands. The men turned their backs and faced north, toward the enemy, each holding a quarterstaff at guard position, slantwise across his body. The women stared at them, horrified. Then, with a wail, one young wife turned, hugging her baby, and hurried away southward. The others stared after her; then, one by one, they began to shoo their children away down the road.
    Then the men-at-arms strode into sight.
    Rod tensed, thinking, "Ready!" with all his force. They wore brown leggings with dark green coats down to midthigh, and steel helmets. Each carried a pike, and a saffron badge gleamed on every breast. It was definitely a uniform, and one Rod had never seen before.
    The soldiers saw the peasants, gave a shout, and charged, pikes dropping down level.
    Rod thought the word with all his might, as he muttered it to Fess: "Havoc!"
    He couldn't have timed it better. Fess leaped out of the underbrush and reared, with a whinnying scream, just as the last soldiers passed him. They whirled about,