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.I was, however, confused aboutElizabeth, for it seemed to me she had behaved strangely this night.Isupposed that, on the whole, she was perhaps dis-traught because she feared she might soon be supplanted as first girl in thewagon; indeed, that she might soon be sold.To be sure, having seen Kamchak with his Aphris, it did not seem to me thateither of these possibilities were actually unlikely.Elizabeth had reason tofear.I might, of course, and would, encourage Kamchak to sell her to a goodmaster, butKamchak, cooperative to a point, would undoubtedly have his eye fixed mostdecisively on the price to be obtained.Imight, of course, if I could find the money, buy her myself and attempt tofind her a kind master.I thought perhapsConrad of the Kassars might be a just Master.He had, however, I, knewrecently won a Turian girl in the games.Moreover, not every man wants to own an untrained barbarian slave, for much,even if given to them, must be fed crawl under the rope that joined them, myassailant was gone.All I received for my trouble were the angry shouts of theman leading the kaiila string.Indeed, one of the vicious beasts even snappedat me, ripping the sleeve on my shoul-der.Angry I returned to the wagon and drew the quiva from the boards.~By this time the owner of the wagon, who was naturally curious about thematter, was beside me.He held a small torch, lit from the fire bowl withinthe wagon.He was examining, not happily, the cut in his planking."A clumsythrow," he remarked, I thought a bit ill-humoredly."Perhaps," I admitted."But," he added, turning and looking at me, "I suppose under the circumstancesit was just as well.""Yes," I said, "I think so."I found the Paga bottle: and noted that there was a bit of liquid left in it,below the neck of the bottle.I wiped off the neck and handed it to the man.He took about half of it and then wiped his mouth and handed it back.I thenfinished the bottle.I flung it into a refuse hole, dug and periodicallycleaned by male slaves."It is not bad Paga," said the man."No," I said, "I think it is pretty good.""May I see the quiva?" asked the man."Yes," I said."Interesting," said he."What?" I asked."The quiva," said he."But what is interesting about it?" I asked."It is Paravaci," he saidPage 111 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlIn the morning, to my dismay, Elizabeth Cardwell was not to be found.Kamchak was beside himself with fury.Aphris, knowing the ways of Gor and thetemper of Tuchuks, was terrified, and said almost nothing."Do not release the hunting sleep," I pleaded withKamchak."I shall keep them leashed," he responded grimly.With misgivings I observed the two, six-legged, sinuous, tawny hunting sleenon their chain leashes.Kamchak was holding Elizabeth's bedding a rep-clothblanket for them to smell.Their ears began to lay back against the sides oftheir triangular heads; their long, serpentine bodies trembled;file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of.ounter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt (115 of 238) [1/20/03 3:28:27 AM]file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of%20Counter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txtI saw claws emerge from their paws, retract, emerge again and then retract;they lifted their heads, sweeping them from side to side, and then thrusttheir snouts to the ground and began to whimper excitedly; I knew they wouldfirst follow the scent to the curtained enclosure within which last night wehad observed the dance."She would have hidden among the wagons last night,"Kamchak said."I know," I said, "The herd sleep." They would have torn the girl to pieces onthe prairie in the light of the threeGorean moons."She will not be far," said Kamchak.He hoisted himself to the saddle of his kaiila, a prancing and tremblinghunting sleen on each side of the animal, the chains running to the pommel ofthe saddle."What will you do to her?" I asked."Cut off her feet," said Kamchak, "and her nose and ears, and blind her in oneeye, then release her to live as she can among the wagons."Before I could remonstrate with the angry Tuchuk the hunting sleen suddenlyseemed to go wild, rearing on their hind legs, scratching in the air, draggingagainst the chains.It was all Kamchak's kaiila could do to brace itselfagainst their sudden madness."Hahl" cried Kamchak.I spied Elizabeth Cardwell approaching the wagon, two leather water bucketsfastened to a wooden yoke she carried over her shoulders.Some water wasspilling from the buck-ets.Aphris cried out with delight and ran to Elizabeth, to my astonishment, tokiss her and help with the water."Where have you been?" asked Kamchak.Elizabeth lifted her head innocently and gazed at him frankly."Fetchingwater," she said.The sleen were trying to get at her and she had backed away against the wagon,watching them warily."They are vicious beasts," she observed.Kamchak threw back his head and roared with laughter.Elizabeth did not so much as look at me.Then Kamchak seemed sober and he said to the girl."Go into the wagon.Bringslave bracelets and a whip.Then go to the wheel."She looked at him, but did not appear afraid."Why?" she asked.Kamchak dismounted."You were overly long in fetching water," he said.Elizabeth and Aphris had gone into the wagon."She was wise to return," said Kamchak.I agreed with him but would not say so."It seems she was fetching water," Ipointed out."You like her, don't you?" asked Kamchak.Page 112 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"l feel sorry for her," I said."Did you enjoy her yesterday?" asked Kamchak."I did not see her after she left the enclosure of the dance," I said."If I had known that," said Kamchak, "I would have had the sleen out lastnight.""Then," I said, "it is fortunate for the girl that you did not know it."Agreed," smiled Kamchak."Why did you not make usefile:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of.ounter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt (116 of 238) [1/20/03 3:28:27 AM]file:///F|/rah/John%20Norman/Chronicles%20of%20Counter-Earth%204%20-%20Nomads%20of%20Gor.txt of her?" he inquired."She is only a girl," I said."She is a woman," said Kamchak, "with blood."I shrugged.By this time Elizabeth had returned with the whip and bracelets, and hadhanded them to Kamchak.She then went to stand by the left, rear wheel of thewagon.ThereKamchak braceleted her wrists thigh over her head about the rim and over oneof the spokes.She faced the wheel."There is no escape from the wagons," he said
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