Lion, Tiger, Bear | 257 With a wood crutch hewn from the strong part of a limb, Bernie watched as a horses hoofs were sawed and mended. He could walk, but with pain. He would ride the horse intermittently, prone atop blankets to ease his backside agony. A young boy tugged at the brass zipper on his tartan wool jacket under his robe, having never seen one. They smiled at one another. Bernie zipped it up to the boys astonishment. C.C. Filson Pioneer Alaska, only the best for the mountains. After the war, Ill send some up here for you. Bernie imagined mighty Persepolis surrounded by the tents of nomads, tens of thousands of them bartering and bearing gifts for Great King Darius. Bea came over, kid goats following her. Dont forget the peanut glue you love so much. You just had to mention peanut butter, now Im starving for some. Look, Alice was right. Lets head to Arak in a few days, then on to Tehran for supplies and horses. Ive made sign language headway with the elders, one of the teenagers will lead us. I promised them my Thompson, no ammo left anyway, and I cant carry much of anything other than this Kraut pistol. Gwafa has three magazines left, how many rounds do you girls have left? Between us, around seventeen. Im exhausted. German mountaineer or no, were done, really done. He could have come from anywhere up here, any direction. He pointed. I see you have a furry fan club. She pet them. They sense my innate greatness. Look, you were right about Jerry being in these mountains. Lets keep on for a few days, we might see something of value. Alright, a few more days then. After a half-day of traveling, the tribe stopped for a lunch break, allowing time for stragglers to catch up. The bells echoed. A lamb strayed and ran uphill; an elder pointed and ordered two boys to follow. Lugging her rifle, bored stiff, Alice followed the two boys while they chased it down. Above them were steep peaks, some with snow. The highest around. The adolescent lamb found a vaguely triangular passageway in the sheer rock face and escaped his pursuers. Yoo-hoo. Alice wandered in behind the two boys who had run down the