It was recognizably the moors, even though snow lay in the hollows. Down below, where a vigorous stream cut its course, a herd of animals had gathered to drink. They were big as shire horses, with something of the same ponderousness, but shaggy to their ankles with drab coats of feathers. Their necks were long and their crested heads small. Two or three stretched up to keep watch over the surrounding countryside while the rest drank. They did not see the two girls, or rather, the humans meant nothing to them. But when the Birdmen materialized on either side of Lee and Mal, the beasts gave out anxious knocking sounds and the herd began to move off.

Mal hadn’t seen the Birdmen yet. She was pointing at something in the middle distance. The snow had ebbed, so they could make out drifting lines of smoke. Lee saw structures: something like yurts, perhaps; a cluster of animals corralled nearby and industrious movement.

Then, from almost at Lee’s elbow, one of the Birdmen spoke. Hak, it went. It took a few steps along the ridge of the rise. It had a scalloped flint in its mouth, and now it wiped it on the ground as though sharpening it, its gaze never leaving Lee.

Hak.

Run.

Lee backed away, plucking at Mal’s cagoule. Two Birdmen now crouched amidst the rocks, watching them keenly, the third behind them somewhere, and abruptly Lee could not stand before that thoughtful stare a moment longer. That evaluating, calculating regard, eyes deep as wells—glittering with cruelty and murder, perhaps. But also with undeniable intelligence.

One of them settled, rocking on its haunches, and Lee suddenly remembered a friend’s cat. It would wriggle almost exactly like that before a pounce.

She ran, and Mal was a step behind her, just a step. She would swear to it.

They treated Lee for hypothermia and exposure, later. She didn’t remember much of it, didn’t remember getting out, if out was the right word. Out and in implied a relationship to regular directions that couldn’t possibly apply. As soon as she was able to string two words together she asked about Mal, and they asked her the same. The locals were sharp enough to spot when two girls went onto the moors and only one came back.