At the pool he washed his hands, and, adjusting his pack, walked down the path. There, not far from the camp, stood the Earth Mother, her face pale. "Don't come near me!" she yelled, "I saw you! I saw what you did!"

"I told you to go on ahead," said Markel quietly.

She pushed at the air. "Get away! Bloody hands! Bloody!"

When he came near her she slapped at him wildly, but he caught her wrists. "Don't get excited. I had to do it; you know that." Sobbing hoarsely, she went limp against him and he led her unresisting down the path.

Down the slope they went and through the clean, morning frost. They walked back toward the convertible, over hogbacks and through valleys. The wind was cold and dead leaves blew around them. When night came the Earth Mother spoke for the first time since morning. "It was such a terrible thing to do," she said, looking into the shadows. "Cutting off his head. Did you have to do that? Couldn't you of let him go, or come with us? He said he was only lonesome, like us."

"Of course I had to do it. It was the only way to stop him. If I had let him go he'd have followed us forever, you know that. He wanted you and he wanted revenge." Markel lit his pipe with a burning twig from the fire. "He stood in the way of Phoenix, and our new world."

The Earth Mother said, "Horrible, so horrible."

Markel blew smoke. "As for letting him come along, well, he'd have knifed me the first time I turned my back. He was nothing but a gutter rat, a hood. There's no room in our new world for clods like that."

The convertible, still covered with branches, stood where they had left it, and in a while they drove south again toward the place of Phoenix. Now the wind blew steadily, full of dry autumn. Ahead of them like an arrow the highway went, empty of overturned cars or abandoned junk, empty except for grass in its cracks and for blowing dust. They saw birds and quick small animals, but nothing else.

So they went on and some nights the Earth Mother cried in her sleep. And one night Markel dreamed again of the golden bird trapped in the flame. Reaching out, Markel tried to help the golden bird but the flames were too strong, and he awoke. Sleepily, he looked around. The Earth Mother was gone.

They had camped on a low hill above a farm. Markel lit his pipe, pulled on his shoes, and searched near the camp. Not 

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