The wagon was old with torn canvas flapping out the back, wooden barrels tied almost haphazardly along the sideboards and wheels that wobbled on worn axles as if they were about to come adrift. Two long horned oxen, one white and the other brown, provided the pulling power.

The surrounding grassland was devoid of animal life. The track, for it could not have been called a road, had dried out after a recent storm and left the clay cracked and hard. This made the wagon vibrate and creak more than usual but the condition was better than the two alternatives, a sea of mud or clouds of fine dust that penetrated everything.

The driver appeared to be asleep. His body lurched and jolted with the rhythm of the vehicle while the reins hung loose in his hands.

"Help me. Please help me!" A hoarse cry could barely be heard above the creaks and squeaks of the rattling vehicle.

But heard it was. Eyes shot open and alertness filled the bleary eyes.

"Whoa fellows!" the man commanded.

The oxen stopped and stood with steamy breath puffing out their nostrils as they chewed cuds and swatted flies with their tails. The man stood up and searched around. There appeared to be nothing in the immediate vicinity, only the track, grass, a few shrubs and distant hills.

"Now I'm hallucinating," he muttered "Did you fellows hear anything?" He laughed at the sound of his own voice. "In English, too. Now who in this God forsaken land speaks my tongue?"

The oxen never replied of course, but cocked their ears as if they agreed, or perhaps they had heard something, too. With the wagon stationery, everything was quiet. Even the grass had stopped rustling.

"So you did hear it? You fellows are as good as any dog when it comes to being alert." The man put his hand to his mouth and shouted. "Is anyone there?"

He waited and watched.

Nothing!

The man cupped a hand around his mouth and called out. "If you understand, don't be afraid. I am but a lonely traveler bound for wherever this road is leading." He listened and shrugged. "Pity. A bit of human company could help at the moment."

He repeated his call in a guttural local language and switched back to English. "I have water, food and medicines unheard of in this world..."

"Please..."

There was somebody out there! He leaped from his seat and headed off the track to his left, jumped a clump of knotted grass and noticed a dip ahead where taller grass grew though bare shingle. This could have been a dry stream bed. He brushed the grass aside and grunted. An arm stuck out of the grass.

"I'm coming!"

The woman who lay on the ground looked to be in her mid thirties and appeared completely out of place. Her once formal business jacket and skirt were dirt stained and torn. The arm he first saw was sunburned and bruised with several deep scratches down the outside. Eyes that stared up at him showed cross between sheer relief and sudden fear.

"It is okay, Ma'am," the man said as he knelt and took her hand. "I may look like your worst nightmare but razor blades are not available in this land. Oh, I tried to keep myself respectable and tidy but Ben and Bob, the two oxen who pull the wagon, don't care. After awhile, I gave up, too." His voice became serious. "Apart from the usual exposure I can see you have succumbed to, have you any injuries?"

"Water."

"Of course. That, I can help you with and I can also offer you a meal of cornbread. Can you stand?"

"I'll try."

The woman staggered up and clutched at his supporting arms. She brushed hair from her eyes and extended a hand. "Talya Svensen."

"Gavin Wilkinson."

Talya ran a tongue over her cracked lips. "You're the first person I've seen in two days? When I heard and later saw your wagon I..." She attempted a smile but her eyes sort of rolled up and she collapsed, unconscious into Gavin's arms.

He bent forward and lifted the surprisingly heavy woman up.

"We have much in common," he said. "But do not worry. I am not about to lose the one English-speaking human I've seen since my own arrival. Together, we may find a way out of here but if not..." He glanced down at the white face and shoulder length blonde hair. "We will get home to Earth, Talya and that's a promise."