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"No," I replied promptly

"Ye’ve come into the mountains by yer lonesome There’s a certain aers downinto my lap

Bewildered by her sudden proxi to kiss me I squealed under ht was lifted off of ave her a look and patted her bottoirl huffed in disappoint look My cheeksat ain

"Tera is a bit free with her favours" He shook his head "Gotten worse since the Iavii have gone Everyone be a bit ypsies were that awful to their own" I bit my lip Up here, Haydyn’s evocation did not reach; up here where life was hard enough as it was

Brint glowered now, looking as fierce as I first iined him to be "We weren’t their own You never knehich Hill they’d come barrellin’ into next, takin’ that which wasn’t theirs to take"

"Then I’lad they’ve left you alone"

"Me too, son I pity the buggers who they be botherin’ now though"

I grunted I would be one of those buggers

I shook offaroundlike I was told they’d be Everyone is so friendly and nice"

Once again, Brint’s lips thinned and he leaned in close to ood people But don’t ye be gettin’ all mistaken, son, there are folks in these here one crazy with the isolation Ye watch yerself in this journey o’ yers Stick to the trails There’s a place one Hill from here called Shadow Hill Ye be bypassin’ around the outskirts o’ Shadow, ye here No nothing there for strangers but a world o’ suspicion and sorrow And the closer to the pool ye reach, be warier There be dogs in packs up that way, hungry and feral as any an aniulped The fear caain I should have known it couldn’t be as easy as I’d begun to hope Hah, I snorted inwardly Hill o’ Hope It was really called so because it gave hope that theas the people here But according to Brint, I’d be foolish to think that And I was going to take his advice

"Thank you," I replied softly He nodded atpast my deception and into the truth of me He seemed concerned for et ye hoht about the nights ahead I wouldn’t have a hoive at least the pretence of safety I thought of Brint’s warning The thought of sleeping under the stars was nothing co the horror he had not spoken of… but had been there in his eyes nonetheless

Chapter Twenty Three

Brint’s wife Anna was just as friendly and caring as her husband She laid out blankets by the fire for me and stoked the fire to life to keepI stay for breakfast, but I explained I had to leave extre up toshe and Brint were early risers But I knew I couldn’t stay However, I told theh so they’d knohen they found rateful to them

I slept a little, but I was so nervous for the day ahead that I was up before the sun broke the horizon, and was slipping through Hill o’ Hope before the couple of roosters they had woke everyone up I held on to htly in thelost to the wildness of theair was chilly, but as the sun rose and began filtering through the trees, I grearm in the humid environment of the forest I had to take off my jacket sure, with no one around, the fact that the trousers were beyond indecent onat midday for a quick snack and so He’d told ood people, the Hill o’ Hope’s close neighbours But I decided I wasn’t taking any chances like I had last night I’d been lucky with Brint and his people Reoing to press that luck Instead, I took the outskirts of the town, keeping to the trees and treading slowly and quietly so as not to draw any attention Through the trees a town, smaller than Hill o’ Hope, flashed in and out of view Children helped their parent’sclipped fros froether in tandem, a machine of teamwork, just like Hill o’ Hope

By late afternoon I was exhausted My shirt was soaked with sweat underneath the waistcoat I wore andblisters populatingI didn’t feel it sofor water, and when Ipain would start over tenfold

I pushed on through the night until e root curling around the soil like an arm, I took off my pack and slumped down behind it, hidden from view from anyone beyond it Every muscle in my body screamed at me The pain in ust When had I becoenteel creature who couldn’t withstand a little exertion? I felt miserable and incompetent When I lived on the far; I could climb trees like a trapeze artist; walk and climb and walk some more and never want to stop Life outdoors had been second nature toht of Wolfe and had to hold back frustrated tears I just kept betraying the pitiful and maudlin, I exhaled and looked around e spider with spindly brown legs crawled slowly up froh the fabric of my trousers Gently, I leaned over and scooped up the spider, putting it down on the ground behind et squashed beneathit, I was reminded of my little brother He had hated spiders, terrified of thes It was the only thing he ever squealed at, and I knew to co to rescue not only him, but the poor spider, from his fear Despite the spider, he would have loved this, I thought, gazing up through the thick branches of the Arans above ht this was quite the adventure