When he awoke in the morning he saw Knowing Fox tying a ribbon on an old woman's hand.  She nodded to him, and he boarded an ox cart and drove off.  The old woman came over. When she spoke in Sweet Blossom's voice, The Voice was startled.  "How in the world..." he cried.
    2  "Actor's make up.  The wrinkles are really snake skin glued on, but unless you look really close you can't tell!  Paint a few black spots on your hands, and wear old, tattered gloves so the spots show, and it keeps some young guard from getting too interested.  Being young and pretty can attract too much attention when you want to be unnoticed!"
    3  "What's the ribbon?" asked The Voice.
    4  "It's their passcode," Sweet Blossom told him, "a certain colored ribbon each day, with a certain number of knots in the proper pattern, and they'll let you cross through the gate without question.  An ox cart has to have its ribbon, too, if it isn't to be searched.
    5  Climb in this covered ox cart.  A false cover will be put over you, and we'll begin our journey. Remember, listen to what I say, and if I tell you to be quiet, don't make a sound."
    6  So it was The Voice and his guards were hidden in the wagon. They made their secret entry into Western.  The guards at the gate did not even question Sweet Blossom, seeing the ribbon she wore, and the one securing the flap on the ox cart, they merely waved her on.
    7  They made their way through the delivery streets at the back of the houses until a heavy gate was opened at one and the cart rolled in.
    8  "We are there!" cried Sweet Blossom.  "You are free to emerge."  The Voice and his guards climbed out, stretching their legs, and a true Giant approached them.
    9  "At last!"  his thundering voice boomed.  "At last!  You are here!" he seized The Voice's shoulders warmly. "I am Great Bear.  Welcome to our tiny outpost of truth in this wilderness of lies!"
    10  An old woman approached, leaning heavily on a staff.  "Our Lady," announced Great Bear, "he is here!  This is The Voice!"
    11  "Well, don't tell the whole city about it yet!" the old woman cautioned.  "His being here is supposed to be a secret, remember?"  Great Bear smiled.
    12  "And you'd better get to that mate of yours," the old woman continued, "that egg isn't coming right. I wish that damned Healer would get here!"
    13  Great Bear looked upset. "There's really a problem?" he asked.
    14  "I wouldn't say there was if there wasn't!" the old woman snapped.  "Go see to your woman! I'll take care of the guests."
    15  "Excuse me, Lord," Great Bear apologized, "you have arrived at an awkward time. Excuse me!"  he hurried off.
    16  "What's the matter with his mate?" asked The Voice.
    17  "A frail young girl," the old woman explained, "who should never have tried to bear the child of a man so huge. If that Surgeon doesn't get here soon, I may have to take a knife to that girl, or both her and the child will die."
    18  "Do you know how?" asked The Voice.
    19  "Young man," the woman told him, "I was a Midwife for thirty seasons!"
    20  She hurried off in the direction Great Bear had gone.  In the distance The Voice could hear a woman's muffled cries.  Other members of the family came out to meet him.  Great Bear's two sisters and their children lived in the house, plus about eight servants.
    21  "They are our servants," the woman explained, "not our lovers.  When our mates were killed in the epidemic two years ago, we sold our houses and bought this big one.  Our children needed a man around, so our brother moved in.  Then, he took a mate last year.
    22  Strange!  The girl just walked in one day looking for work, we didn't need anybody but our brother asked her to stay for supper.  In the middle of the meal he looked up and said, 'You know, I think I'll mate with this young woman, if she'll have me!'  The girl simply looked up and said, 'Of course I will!'
    23  Everybody thought my brother had lost his mind, and the young woman, too.  But you've never seen anybody so much in love as those two!  They've been happy about the child but if it kills her, I don't think my brother can bear it."