The Piebald stood at gaze, his long ears pricked forward, his large face, half black, half white, still turned in Steve’s direction. For several minutes he stood there, his small eyes unwavering. Then he lowered his heavy head to the grass.

Steve’s pace quickened until he was running. Reaching the tall grass, he found it to be young wild sugar cane like that on Antago. Flimsy as it was, he welcomed it as a protection. It grew high, almost to his chest. He crouched low beneath it and only the bending of the stalks betrayed his presence.

Cautiously he made his way to the end of the cane, then he stopped to take in his surroundings. There were some trees between him and the yellow walls. More of them grew along the edge of the cane and down the side of the valley. They would afford him some protection if he needed it. Now he slowly raised his head in the direction of the Piebald and his band, noting with relief that the Piebald was still grazing and had moved closer to the band. So far, so good. It would appear that the black-and-white stallion had decided to ignore him, since Steve did not seem to be a threat to him or his newly acquired band.

Bending down again, Steve started down the valley, taking short, fast steps. But it wasn’t until he had passed opposite the place where the Piebald and his band were grazing that he breathed easily and ceased raising his head every so often above the cane to look at them.

Now Steve was downwind from the Piebald and he felt comparatively safe. His pace quickened. His destination was approximately two miles still farther down the valley. When he arrived there he would look across the valley floor for the lone tree with the red cluster of flowers that grew alongside the green-carpeted valley floor. It was a little past that tree that he had seen Flame turn into the tall cane, running in the direction of the yellow walls until he became lost in the shadows.

More than half an hour had passed when Steve raised his head to find that he was just about opposite the tree across the valley that he was using as his marker. He continued walking another hundred yards or more, then entered the tall cane again, making his way to the green-carpeted floor. Reaching the edge of the cane, he peered through the stalks and saw that the band was still far up the valley. The distance between the horses and Steve was too great for them to notice him as he walked quickly onto the green grass. Halfway across, he broke into a run and didn’t stop until he had reached the cane on the other side of the valley.