We've been robbed. Isn't it great?" With a deep breath, I began to relax. My pulse calmed. "Thank goodness," I said. I stood and began to fill the bowl with water. "Now we won't have to cook any meat." "And I won't have to eat _any_ meat," my sister added. Hildy smiled. "What a shame. Imagine living all your life without eating meat!" I set the bucket down next to the bedroll and knelt down. I leaned over and began to splash the water onto the rocks. "Careful," said the girl. "They're wet." "It's not so bad once you get used to it," said Hildy. "And that water is clean," my sister added. "It comes from a mountain spring." "Let's have a talk!" The girl jumped up and faced us. "I have to talk to you." I shrugged. "Go ahead." "Well, here's the thing. We've had a bad time getting past that mountain. First a mountain lion scared us and then a pack of snow dogs chased us off." She nodded at Hildy. "And she nearly lost her pack, too." Hildy raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you say that? I told you I could walk it. Remember?" "It's not that I don't believe you," the girl replied. "It's just that the snow dogs are crazy. The way they were chasing us I knew we had no chance of getting through that pass. And then a couple of days later, we come down from the other side and we hear the sound of the pack of dogs. It's clear they mean to kill us all." Hildy seemed nervous. "But why?" "You might think we're stupid," the girl said, "but you have to be careful what you do with dogs. In any case, we thought we should wait here until you passed by. If you hadn't come by when you did, we'd all be dead." Hildy looked puzzled. "Who are you talking about? How did they know we were here?" The girl laughed. "They got a track on you," she said. "The snow didn't melt." "A track?" The girl nodded. "We heard about the tracks when we came down from the pass," she said. "And that's why we took it easy coming down from the pass. The only thing we could do was hope to hide." I stared at the girl and then at Hildy. "But who would track us? Who would make tracks through the snow?" The girl shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "But those were the snow dogs." I looked back at the girl. "Have you ever seen these dogs?" She shook her head. "No," she said. I looked again at the trail of fresh snow where the girl had been standing. She was right. The dogs had left many tracks behind. I turned to Hildy. "Then who would do such a thing?" "You're kidding." Hildy was looking at me as if I were crazy. "These people you're with?" I shook my head. "You don't know them?" She shook her head. "Who do you think would make tracks through the snow?" I asked. The girl stood up. "This is impossible!" she exclaimed. "Why would anyone track you? What's going on?" I shrugged. "I've seen them." "The snow dogs?" Hildy asked. "Are you sure?" I nodded. "We came across them in the pass." "And you didn't think to warn us?" she asked, looking puzzled. "I didn't want to be a bother," I said. "It sounded like they were in trouble. We wanted to help." "And did you?" the girl asked. "Well, no," Hildy said. "We saw them and they saw us. And then they started chasing us. I'm sorry." "The people chasing us," I said. "Were they wearing furs?" "What's that?" the girl asked. "Were they wearing furs?" I repeated. "Of course they were," Hildy said. "You saw the way they were dressed, right? They're like us." "Right," I said. "They're wearing fur." The girl stared at me. "You mean _the_ People." She knelt down. "But these are the People!" Hildy frowned. "Are they?" The girl shook her head. "No," she said. "They aren't. They're different. They're like us." I could see Hildy's expression change. "Why do you say that?" "They have our furs," the girl said. "If they wanted to live like us they could. Don't you see? Those were the Snow Dogs!" I looked at the girl and then at Hildy. We were both dumbfounded. This girl was crazy. "You don't understand," Hildy said. "These aren't _the_ People. You don't know these people." "Are you sure?" the girl asked. Hildy shook her head. "Not at all," she said. The girl pointed at Hildy and me. "You do?" she said. "Then who do you think they are? How did they get through the pass? If they are not the People, then why is one of you with them? If you have no furs, where do you get your pelts?" The girl moved toward Hildy and me. I jumped up and backed away, but the girl quickly put her arm around Hildy and pulled her in close. "I don't understand it," she said. "You have furs, and yet you don't act like we do. Why don't you have a fire? You don't know who these people are, but they're your friends, and yet you don't even know who they are. Can't you see? These people are not from here!" I stepped away from the two of them. "I need your help," Hildy said. "You're both crazy! And this is no time to talk nonsense." The girl stared at Hildy. "You're right," she said. "I'm not crazy. Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm crazy." She stopped, then smiled. "So you need our help. Is that it? You and the old lady?" "You can help," Hildy said. "But you have to help the two of us. You see, we don't want to leave the valley. It's our home." The girl looked skeptical. "You say you came from beyond the mountains?" "Yes," I said. "As did you. That's where you live, but your home is over there." "But that's crazy," the girl said. "You lived here for how many years and never came up here? What did you call it before? A blizzard? If that's what you call a blizzard, then it sounds like we live in a perfect paradise." Hildy put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Listen," she said, "you'll understand if you listen to what we have to say." She turned and pointed to the trail we had just made. "You see how easy it is?" The girl shook her head. "It sounds easy, but why would someone want to come through here?" "Let's go, Hildy," I said. She sighed. "Okay." As we started walking, I looked back at the girl. She was still standing there. "Where is she going?" she asked. "Hildy has to go to the spring to get water," I said. "It's right up there. You can see it on the path." "No, you see," Hildy said. "We need water." The girl looked confused. "Why? Who are you going to drink it with?" "My sister," Hildy said. "We live on the other side." "You have to go back through this pass? Don't you want to know who is passing by?" Hildy looked as if she were going to laugh. "I guess not," she said. "I don't understand all these questions." The girl looked at me. "What about you?" "Me?" "If you don't live with your parents, where do you live?" the girl asked. "And why don't you have any clothes on?" I shrugged. "We're just out for a walk." "In winter?" the girl asked. "We've been walking here for four days and you never got close to the pass?" "All right," I said. "I admit it. We're not from here." "But why not?" the girl asked. "Where are you from?" I asked.