"Pearls In The Sand (Veronica Robinson)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Veronica)

might work.
"Tendau," she said quietly, "slip down along the south side, and I'll
go down the north side. We've got to cut those banthas loose and get them
running."
The Ithorian smiled at her plan. "It is about all we can do," he
whispered back. "I hope it works."
"So do I."
With that, she started sliding down one side of the ridge as Tendau
slid down the other, putting them at opposite sides of the small herd of
banthas. Dusque began to cut away at their tethers, hoping that the Sand
People would be too distracted by their immediate prey to turn back and
check on their mounts. Fortunately, she and Tendau managed to cut every
tether undiscovered. She nodded to the Ithorian, and the two of them
proceeded to jostle the herd's matriarch until she started to move, Just as
Dusque suspected, the rest of the herd followed her lead, and soon every
bantha had broken into a run, and Dusque and Tendau barely made it up over
the ridge before one of the three Tusken Raiders noticed that their mounts
had fled, Dusque was counting on the fact that the Tusken Raiders were
greedy but mercenary. The three opportunists from Mos Taike couldn't have
amounted to more than sport to the desert dwellers and were of little
monetary value to them, but their mounts would be too precious to lose. As
it turned out, Dusque was right.
When the first of the Sand People noticed that their banthas had broken
free, he yelled to his companions in their strange tongue. It was only a
matter of seconds before the others gave up their attack on the Zabraks and
Mon Calamarian and scrambled to their feet. The three fortune hunters wasted
no time in fleeing from their pinned-down position and heading east. They
surely wanted what might exist in the graveyard as much as Dusque did, and
didn't seem to wonder why their fate had suddenly changed - they simply took
advantage of it. Looking south, Dusque could see the three Sand People
diminished against the horizon as they trailed after their mounts. She and
Tendau had remained undetected by both parties,
"Let's keep going," she told the Ithorian, and they continued trailing
the former cantina patrons.
For the next thousand meters or so, little happened. Dusque and Tendau
kept a discreet distance from the trio, remaining mindful that other Raiders
might be lurking between the shifting dunes. They grew more and more tired
as they trudged farther into the desolate desert, but they could not stop to
rest because their quarry did not. Even though there was only the slightest
breeze, it was enough to cover the trio's erratic tracks in only a few
moments. Dusque was concerned they would lose their trail if she and Tendau
slowed their pace, so they pushed on, Dusque hoped they were nearing the
location the Mon Calamarian had spoken of back in Mos Taike, but her mind
started to churn over what they were going to do with their competitors once
they got there, It turned out not to be much of an issue.
As they climbed up another steep incline, Dusque turned back to check
on Tendau, She could see that he had tired tremendously but wouldn't say a
word to indicate it. She couldn't let her zeal for the potential prize wear
him down any further.
"Why don't we stop for a while?" she said, surprising herself with her