“Thing is, the beasties aren’t completely stupid, and they are very, very aware of our hosts as top predator,” Mal explained. “That’s where we come in. Firstly, I make excellent nets, if I say so myself. Thumbs, right? Secondly, none of these poor dumb sods associate my smell with trouble. You and I are going to saunter up there with the nets and a bunch of stakes and set up the trap, and then the others will drive them into it. Easy as that, and nobody has to break into a sweat.”

In practice it was a bit more hectic. The birdlike prey could not only run but also jump, and a fair number managed to vault the nets. The whole stretch of ground was frantic with Birdmen on murder-ostriches hunting down bird-beasts and trying to steer them back into the trap. The business ended up something like an accelerated cavalry battle for parrot historians to argue over. The noise and chaos was indescribable, and then the actual business of bird-on-bird slaughter turned her stomach. Doubtless the locals were being efficient and professional, but it was a bloodbath.

It was also a grand success, or so Mal assured her. There was enough meat to keep everyone fed, and to salt some, and to trade some when visitors came. As if conjured by her words, a quartet of new Birdmen rode up. They sat two to a saddle, on a pair of long-legged beasts that looked like hippos that had been stretched and starved until they resembled greyhounds. Even from a distance they were splendid, with feathers and ornaments, in striped ochre and white and black. Seeing this, the lead hunter in Mal’s party hurriedly retrieved a proud feather headdress from somewhere, gleaming all the colours of the rainbow. Lee looked suspiciously from one group to the other.

“I can’t help but notice the, ah, livery of our hosts,” she murmured to Mal.

“Uh-huh.”

“Mal, did you start off some kind of dinosaur pride march?”

Mal’s grin was back. “Actually, no, this mob just have some really good dyeing techniques. Their headdresses must look even better to them too, because I think their eyes are better for colours than ours. Bright is really important. Dyed stuff is mainly what this lot trade. But yeah, it was one big reason why I decided I wanted to stick with this tribe. I was pretty desperate for anything familiar.”