When Pan got to the front gate, he paused and turned to take in the thatched cottage and stables, the yard, and the chickens that clucked as they pecked at the ground. Behind the cottage were the fields. He could see Haakon and the horses, about to work the same fields he and his father had worked all those years ago. Life had been hard, but fulfilling. He could only realise it now, looking back. He’d never appreciated it at the time.
When he turned he imagined he caught sight of his father, but his father had gone to the gods several years earlier. What he had seen must have been a trick of the imagination brought about by his reminiscences. He set off on his journey, smiling as more childhood memories came flooding back.
After walking for some time he arrived at the outer edge of the G
