Sitting astride Tug, Will had a momentary urge to set him to a gallop and simply ride off. As if sensing it, the Bedullin tribesmen tightened the circle around him and the moment was lost. Besides, he thought, he had no idea where he was, no chart and his Northseeker was back by Umar's tent. Umar made an unmistakable gesture with his thumb and Will reluctantly dismounted. He put the bridle back into Hassan's waiting hand.

'So there is a secret to riding him,' Hassan said. 'You will have to tell me.'

He smiled, wishing the stranger would simply accept the inevitable. But he saw the refusal in the younger man's angry expression.

'You'll never ride him,' Will said.

Hassan shrugged. He looked inquiringly to Umar, wishing he would step in and end this unpleasantness. 'I'll find a way,' he said confidently. He was an excellent rider and horse handler, after all. He sensed that Will had come to a decision.

'If you won't let me pay you for him, I'll fight you for him,' Will said tersely. Hassan actually stepped back a pace, appalled at the lack of courtesy and basic good manners. This time Umar did step in, as a buzz ran round the watching crowd.

'There'll be no fighting!' he snapped. He glared at Will. 'What did you have in mind – to stand off fifty paces and kill him with that bow of yours before he comes in reach? That's not fighting. That's murder!'

Will dropped his eyes. Umar was right. But he was torn with anxiety over the loss of his horse. To find him again and then lose him like this was unbearable. Something Cielema had said was moving round in his mind, just out of reach of conscious thought. There was a way, he thought, if he could only…

'Besides, if I can't ride him, I'll use him as a pack pony. He's sturdy enough,' Hassan was saying.

That was the final straw. The idea that Tug, his intelligent, affectionate, wonderful Tug, would see out his days as a beast of burden was too much for Will to bear. Then Cielema's earlier statement came into clear focus and he knew there was one desperate way out of this.

'I'll race you for him,' he challenged. 'I'll race Tug against the best horse and rider you have in the camp.'

Now there was a definite buzz of interest among the crowd. Umar's head snapped up at the challenge. As his wife had said, no Bedullin man could resist a wager. And besides, this would resolve the unpleasant predicament that had come about.

'What terms?' Umar asked. Will thought quickly, then took a deep breath and commited himself.

'If I win, I get Tug back. If your man wins, I'll tell Hassan the secret to riding him. And I'll give up all claim to him.'

Umar looked around the watching circle of faces. He could see a light of interest and expectation in every eye. This was the sort of challenge that set Bedullin blood racing. Already, side wagers were being negotiated among the onlookers. He looked back at Will, saw the defiant look on the young man's face as he staked everything on one throw of the dice.

'Hassan?' he asked and the young Bedullin nodded eagerly.

'As long as I'm the rider,' he said. 'And you let me ride your horse Sandstorm.'

Umar nodded. Hassan was a brilliant rider and Umar's palomino stallion Sandstorm was far and away the best horse in the tribe.

'Done,' he said.

'You never saw who it was?' Halt asked as Gilan made his report. The young Ranger shook his head. 'It may not have been a person at all. It could have been a small animal.'

'But you don't think so?' Halt asked. This time Gilan hesitated before he answered.

'No, I don't,' he said finally. 'I would have gone closer to examine the ground but I didn't know if he'd gone or was still in the area – or if he had friends with him. If some kind of ruckus had started, it would have given everything away to the Tualaghi. I thought it was better to come back here and report.'

'Yes. Yes, you were right,' Halt said, frowning over the news. He looked at Selethen. 'Any idea who might be keeping an eye on the Tualaghi?' he asked.

The Wakir shrugged. He'd been considering the question since Gilan had first reported.

'There could be a Bedullin party somewhere in the area. They come and go as they please. If so, it would make sense for them to keep an eye on the enemy.'

'Would they be likely to attack them?' Halt asked. This time the Wakir was more definite in his answer.

'I wouldn't think so. They don't usually go looking for trouble and a party of two hundred Tualaghi is a lot to take on… '

'I was thinking the same thing myself,' Halt interposed.

Selethen nodded gravely. 'Quite so. But if they were Bedullin watching, odds are they would simply move away and give the Tualaghi as wide a berth as possible.'

'Do you think he saw you?' Halt asked.

Gilan shook his head. 'I'm sure he didn't. I only saw him because he moved suddenly.'

There was no need for Halt to ask Gilan if he'd moved. He knew his former student would never make such a fundamental mistake.

'You covered your tracks coming back, of course?'

'Of course,' Gilan replied. 'Don't worry, Halt, I left no sign that I'd been there.'

Halt came to a decision. 'All right. We can catch a few hours' sleep. We'll push on as usual when it gets a little closer to dawn. See if you can get some rest, people.'

Selethen and the Araluans turned and headed for their respective tents. They all knew the value of getting as much rest as the situation allowed.

Unfortunately, while Gilan had left no tracks, the unknown observer had not been so careful, or so skilled. And by the worst possible chance, the path he took when he left the Tualaghi camp site led within a quarter of a kilometre of the camp where the Arridi troops had spent the night.

An hour after Selethen had led the party on their way, Tualaghi scouts, following the tracks discovered near their camp, chanced across those left by the mixed Araluan-Arridi group. They followed them carefully until the Arridi troops came in sight. Then, taking a wide curve to keep from being seen themselves, they hurried back to their own leaders to report that an armed party was travelling on a parallel course to their own.

After a quick consultation, half of the Tualaghi split off and dropped back behind the others, then travelled southwest until they too cut across the trail of Selethen's troops.

They picked up the pace at that point and began moving closer to the unsuspecting Arridi. Halt and Gilan, expecting that if any trouble came it would be from the north-east, had no idea that one hundred mounted warriors were closing in on them from the south. Nor were they aware that the lead party of Tualaghi had begun to move faster, and to angle slowly across their path.

The hunters had become the hunted.

They stopped in the middle of the day, as was their custom. It was this fact that gave the Tualaghi leaders their final opportunity to spring the trap they had spent the day preparing.

After the main heat of the day had passed, and before they continued on their way, the Araluans were discussing ideas for a possible rescue operation. Under cover of darkness, either of the two Rangers would be able to make his way into the camp unseen by the Tualaghi. The problem arose when it came to getting Erak out unseen.

'That's why they keep him out in the open, of course,' Evanlyn said. 'If he escapes, anyone looking in that direction can see that he's gone.'

'Plus you'll need a way to cut him loose from those camels,' Horace put in.

'Maybe only one,' Svengal suggested. 'If you could cut the chains to one, he could ride the other one out of the camp.'