They travelled along horse trails that wound through towers of yellow rock and stunted white shrubs. Overhead flapped huge vulture like creatures. They ascended a bluff and came up on a wide plain, beaten flat by the sun. A ragged thing the colour of bone trotted after them for a while, but soon gave up and lay down panting. They followed the ruts of a passed carriage, tracks not yet stolen by wind and sand and time, and drank as little water as they could stand. The sky rippled. They spoke little.
