{"product_id":"2940013707597","title":"The Red Hawk \u0026 The Moon Men","description":"In the near distance the green of the orange groves mocked us from\u003cbr\u003ebelow, and great patches that were groves of leafless nut trees, and\u003cbr\u003ethere were sandy patches toward the south that were vineyards waiting\u003cbr\u003efor the hot suns of April and May before they, too, broke into\u003cbr\u003eriotous, tantalizing green. And from this garden spot of plenty a\u003cbr\u003ecurling trail wound up the mountainside to the very level where we\u003cbr\u003esat gazing down upon this last stronghold of our foes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the ancients built that trail it must have been wide and\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful indeed, but in the centuries that elapsed man and the\u003cbr\u003eelements have sadly defaced it. The rains have washed it away in\u003cbr\u003eplaces, and the Kalkars have made great gashes in it to deter us,\u003cbr\u003etheir enemies, from invading their sole remaining lands and driving\u003cbr\u003ethem into the sea; and upon their side of the gashes they had built\u003cbr\u003eforts where they keep warriors always. It is so upon every pass that\u003cbr\u003eleads down into their country. And well for them that they do so\u003cbr\u003eguard themselves!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSince fell my great ancestor, Julian 9th, in the year 2122, at the\u003cbr\u003eend of the first uprising against the Kalkars, we have been driving\u003cbr\u003ethem slowly back across the world. That was more than three hundred\u003cbr\u003eyears ago. For a hundred years they have held us here, a day's ride\u003cbr\u003efrom the ocean. Just how far it is we do not know; but in 2408 my\u003cbr\u003egrandfather, Julian 18th, rode alone almost to the sea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe had won back nearly to safety when he was discovered and\u003cbr\u003epursued almost to the tents of his people. There was a battle, and\u003cbr\u003ethe Kalkars who had dared invade our country were destroyed, but\u003cbr\u003eJulian 18th died of his wounds without being able to tell more than\u003cbr\u003ethat a wondrously rich country lay between us and the sea, which was\u003cbr\u003enot more than a day's ride distant. A day's ride, for us, might be\u003cbr\u003eanything under a hundred miles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe are desert people. Our herds range a vast territory where feed\u003cbr\u003eis scarce, that we may be always near the goal that our ancestors set\u003cbr\u003efor us three centuries ago-the shore of the western sea into which it\u003cbr\u003eis our destiny to drive the remnants of our former oppressors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the forests and mountains of Arizona there is rich pasture, but\u003cbr\u003eit is far from the land of the Kalkars where the last of the tribe of\u003cbr\u003eOr-tis make their last stand, and so we prefer to live in the desert\u003cbr\u003enear our foes, driving our herds great distances to pasture when the\u003cbr\u003eneed arises, rather than to settle down in a comparative land of\u003cbr\u003eplenty, resigning the age old struggle, the ancient feud between the\u003cbr\u003ehouse of Julian and the house of Or-tis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA light breeze moves the black mane of the bright bay stallion\u003cbr\u003ebeneath me. It moves my own black mane where it falls loose below the\u003cbr\u003ebuckskin thong that encircles my head and keeps it from my eyes. It\u003cbr\u003emoves the dangling ends of the Great Chief's blanket strapped behind\u003cbr\u003eany saddle.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068914843888,"sku":"2940013707597","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013707597_p0.jpg?v=1763584549","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013707597","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}