Chapter VIII: The Split

"Quit cheering!" I said, I fear, a bit too loudly. "That sharptooth was dead already when that flyer hit him!"

"WHAT?" said the herd in unison.

I then explained it in a very technical way which I will not bore you with here. "He knew it, and after hiding in a tree for the duration of the battle he came out and took the credit!"

"Bah!" snorted Threehorn. "That useless flyer!"

"Bah!" snorted Pterano. "These useless unbelievers!"

Pterano's followers refused to believe me. Some said that they would rather leave the herd than listen to such nonsense.

"Members of the Great Valley Herd, choose," shouted Pterano. "Will you follow me, who knows almost all there is to know (here I lost my temper and ran at Pterano, but Shieldback stopped me) or these small-brained flatheads and this stupid, impulsive threehorn?"

Here is where Shieldback had to stop Threehorn from killing Pterano on the spot.

"Yes, this stupid, impulsive threehorn," said Pterano.

"Thicknose tells us," said Mrs. Bigmouth, mother of Ducky, "that you hid in a tree while the rest of us were fighting the sharpteeth!"

"No, I was...um...er...scouting to see if there were any more. Then I came back just in time to save Spikefrill there."

Here Spikefrill rolled his eyes so hard I almost expected them to fly away.

"Why do you say that I was hiding in a tree?" said Pterano to me angrily.

"Why? Well, after I knocked that sharptooth down after Spikethumb scratched his tail, I saw your crest poking out of one. That one over there."

"Slander!" shouted Pterano. "You believe me, don't you Pteri?" (This was addressed to Mrs. Flyer, who was Pterano's sister and the mother of a certain Petrie.)

"I want to believe you," said Pteri, "but Thicknose never lies." (How I wish that was true.)

"What about you, Ramfo?" asked Pterano. "Surely you believe me." (This was addressed to a longtail flyer, Pterano's best friend and the brother of a certain Rinkus who I was destined to hear about eventually.)

"Of course I believe you, Pterano," said Ramfo, "even though I also saw your crest poking out of that tree."

Pterano hit Ramfo across the face with his wing, cleared his throat and said, "Anyhow, who comes with me? I know a shortcut to the Great Valley."

All of Pterano's followers, and some doubting minds, followed Pterano away from the herd. Little did we know what would happen as a consequence of Pterano's "shortcut."