"What could have possessed Mongrove to go into space?" said My Lady Charlotina with a token smile in the general direction of the vanished Sweet Orb Mace. "I cannot believe that she could possibly have been your father, you know, Jherek, however good the disguise."

"It was a very strong rumour at one time," the Iron Orchid said, stroking her son's hair and plucking little particles of snow from it. "But I agree, Charlotina, it would not be quite in Sweet Orb Mace's style. Do you think she's all right?"

"Oh, of course. And if she forgot to use her gravity neutralizer, we can always resurrect her later. Personally, I am glad of the peace."

"I understood from Mongrove that he regarded it as his destiny to accompany Yusharisp," Bishop Castle said. "To warn the universe of its peril."

"I could never understand his pleasure in passing on such news," said My Lady Charlotina. "It could alarm some cultures, could it not? I mean, think of the timid creatures we have had to look after from time to time when they have visited us. Many of them are so frightened at seeing people who do not look like themselves that they rush off back to their own planets as soon as they can. If we do not, of course, select them for a menagerie. I suspect that Mongrove's motives were rather different. I suspect that he had become thoroughly bored with his gloomy role but was too proud to change."

"An acute insight, sextupedal siren," said Jherek. "It is probably accurate." He smiled, affectionately remembering the way in which he had tricked the giant when Mrs. Amelia Underwood had belonged to Mongrove's menagerie. Then he frowned. "Ah, those were pleasant days."

"You are not happy with this outing, Jherek?" My Lady Charlotina was concerned.

"I can think of nowhere I would rather be in this whole world," he said tactfully, producing a convincing smile.

Only the Iron Orchid was not entirely relieved to hear these words. She said quietly to him: "I am inclined to regret the appearance both of Yusharisp from Space and your Mrs. Underwood from Time. It could be imagination, but it seems to me at this moment that they introduced a certain flavour into our society which I find not entirely palatable. You were once the joy of us all, Jherek, because of the enthusiasm you carried with you…"

"I assure you, most considerate of mothers, that my enthusiasm burns within me still. It is merely that I have nothing on which to focus it at present." He patted her hand. "I promise to be more amusing just as soon as my inspiration returns."

Relieved, she lay back in the snow, crying out almost immediately: "Oh, look! It is the Duke of Queens!"

None could fail to recognize the air car which came lumbering over the peaks in their direction — a genuine ornithopter in the shape of a huge hen, clanking and clucking its way through the sky, sometimes dropping dangerously low and at other times soaring so high as to be almost invisible. Its wide wings beat mightily at the air, its mechanical head glared this way and that as if in horrible confusion. The beak opened and shut rapidly, producing a strange clashing noise. And there, just visible, was the Duke's head, adorned by a huge, wide-brimmed hat festooned with plumes, a hand waving a long silver spear, a scarlet cloak billowing about him. He saw them and, erratically, aimed his hen in their direction, coming in so close that they flung themselves into the snow so as to avoid being struck. The ornithopter spiralled upwards, then spiralled down again, landing at last, a few yards away and waddling towards them.

The Duke's beard fairly bristled with excitement. "It is a Hunt, my dears. Some of my beaters are not too far away. You must join me!"

"A Hunt, darling Duke — for what?" asked Bishop Castle, arranging his hat on his head.

"Another alien — same race as Yusharisp — spotted in these parts — spaceship and everything. We found the ship, but the alien had gone to ground somewhere. We'll find him soon. Bound to. Where's your car? Ah — Jherek's. That will do. Come along! The chase grows hot!"

They looked at one another enquiringly, laughingly. "Shall we?" said My Lady Charlotina.

"It will be fun," said the Iron Orchid. "Will it not, Jherek?"

"Indeed, it will!" Jherek began to race towards his landau, the other three at his heels. "Lead the way, hardiest of hunters. Into the air! Into the air!"

The Duke of Queens rattled his silver spear against his chicken's metal wattles. The chicken clucked and crowed and its wings began to beat again. "Ha ha! What sport!"

The chicken rose a few feet and then came down again, after a false start. Snow blew about in clouds around the ornithopter and from out of this blizzard there came the sound of the Duke's exasperated tones mingling with the almost embarrassed voice of the chicken as it tried to lift its bulk skyward. Jherek's landau was already circling the air before the Duke had managed to take off.

"He always regretted letting me have Yusharisp," said My Lady Charlotina. "The alien did not seem much of an addition to a menagerie at the time. One can understand his pleasure at discovering another. I do hope he is successful. We must do our best to help him, everyone. We must take the Hunt seriously."

"Without question!" said Jherek. More than the others, he welcomed the excitement.

"I wonder if this one bears the same dull tidings," said the Iron Orchid. Only she did not seem to be as entertained by their escapade as much as she might have been.

From somewhere beyond a line of low, green hills there came the moan of a hunting harp.

The Duke's chicken was above and ahead of them, but they heard his thin voice crying:

"To the West! To the West!"

They saw him wave his spear in that direction, saw him desperately trying to turn his bird, which had begun to take on more than the suggestion of a list; so much that the Duke had great difficulty maintaining his seat.

A word from Jherek and the landau leapt forward, causing Bishop Castle to whistle with glee and hang hard onto his hat. The pleasure of the ladies was also keen; they leant far over the sides, threatening to fall, as they sought the elusive alien.

"Be careful, my dears!" called Bishop Castle above the wail of the wind. "Remember that these aliens can sometimes be dangerous. They have all sorts of weapons , you know!" He raised a cautioning hand. "You could miss the fun, if killed or maimed, for there would not be time to resurrect you until the Hunt was finished."

"We shall be careful, Bishop — oh, we shall be!" My Lady Charlotina chuckled as she almost lost her grip on the landau's rail.

"Besides, Jherek has a gun to protect us, haven't you, produce of my lust?" The Iron Orchid pointed at a rather large object on the floor of the landau. "We were playing with it a day or two ago."

"A deceptor-gun is not exactly a weapon," said Bishop Castle, picking it up and squinting down its wide, bell-shaped funnel. "All it can produce is illusions."

"But they are very real , Bishop."

The Bishop had taken an interest in the antique. "One of the oldest examples I have seen. Notice that it even has its own independent power source — here, at the side."

The others, having absolutely no interest in the Bishop's hobby, pretended that they had not heard him.

"Gone away!" came the Duke's distant drone. "Gone away!"

"What can he mean?" said an astonished Lady Charlotina. "Jherek, do you know?"

"I believe he means we have become too greatly separated," Jherek offered. "I have been deliberately keeping back, to give him the pleasure of the first sighting. It is his game, after all."

"And quite a good one, really," said My Lady Charlotina.