Chapter III: A New Idea
"Wow!" exclaimed all the children in unison. "Longnecks?"
Threehorn then stammered out the whole story, including the longnecks' idea of a multispecies herd.
"A many-kind herd?" wondered Sean.
Threehorn started a low-voiced grumbling of which his family could understand only one word, "longnecks."
"But Otis told me that he saw a longneck rescuing Cera during the big earthshake," ventured Sean. Otis was a young male of Sean's age, and they had been close friends, but he and his parents had run away from the herd during one of the child-shakes, and nobody knew where they were now.
Threehorn stopped his grumbling and turned away, not wanting his family to see the tears that were coming to his eyes.
"There, there, dear," said Mrs. Threehorn kindly.
"Dad, those longnecks had a point. We would be safer in a bigger herd," said Sean.
"Flatheads having a point! Hmph!" snorted Threehorn. "With their small brains!"
"But look what happened to my uncles, Dad!" said Sean. "They had their own herds of six and eight, and what do the sickleclaws do but drop down on them from cliffs? They fought well, but there were just too many of those confounded sharpteeth! Six! Eight!
Ha!"
"Hmph!" said Threehorn, but after a while he consented to join the longnecks' "many-kind" herd, and dispatched Sean to tell them. "Both are gray, but one has a whitish stripe down his neck, and the other has a brown one down hers."
"You're the son of that threehorn we saved?" asked Grandpa.
After Sean had delivered his message, Grandma said, "Would you be kind enough to ask your father for us to tell other herds about the idea?"
So Sean delivered the longnecks' message, and Threehorn grudgingly agreed. He it was who came to me, Robert P. Thicknose, and told me about the idea. I am sure that, like me, the other herds figured "if it's good enough for a threehorn, it's good enough for me!"
Thus the Longnecks and Threehorns went from herd to herd spreading the idea. Those who were interested were asked to come to the tallest tree on the night of the round great night-circle.