t we can't land at Banaue, you say."

"You will see. And I will see you tomorrow. Then you can tell me how the
terraces look from the air."

"Better still," Rick promised. "Next time I have the plane here, I'll
take you to see for yourself."

Scotty winked as Santos and Rick approached the plane, and Rick knew
that Scotty and Angel had been able to make a deal with Pilipil, the
Igorot boy, and his friend. The party shook hands with Santos, then
climbed into the plane. The crowd of natives moved away from the road as
Rick started the engine, then turned the plane and taxied down the road
to the take-off point he had selected. He was a little nervous, for fear
a child might dart into the road while he was picking up flying speed,
but the crowd was well-disciplined and held steady as the Sky Wagon
roared past and climbed.

"We now have Pilipil and his pal working for us," Scotty said when they
were air-borne.

"They're smart boys," Angel added. "They'll be able to report on every
car and every person passing through Bontoc from now until we get back."

Rick nodded. "Good. But I'm still worried. We've done everything we
could think of, but there's no pay-off. We still haven't found Tony. We
were sure whoever kidnaped him would head for the Ifugao country, but
there were no sedans on the road today. How do we know Tony isn't hidden
somewhere near Baguio? How do we know he's still alive?"

Scotty put a hand on his shoulder. "Why wouldn't he be alive? Who would
gain anything by his death? We have to remember that the gimmick in this
whole business is a golden skull. Nast wants it, Nangolat wants it,
Lazada wants it, and we want it. No one has it."

Rick gained altitude steadily, keeping an eye on the twisting road
below. "All right. I'll go along with your reasoning. Whoever wants the
golden skull has to go to Banaue to find it. It can't be found--unless
by a lucky accident--without the earth scanner. And who has the
scanner?"

"Nangolat."

"Can he use it?"

"No."

Rick shrugged. "Tony can use the scanner, though. We suspect that Nast
has Tony. The question is what is the relationship between Nangolat and
Nast?"

Below the Sky Wagon the high green mountains marched in a series of
ridges from horizon to horizon. This was the divide between Igorot and
Ifugao country. Rick let the conversation lag as he searched below and
ahead for a landmark. There was a little cloud cover around him, as
Santos had predicted.