George sympathized. He didn’t want to get any closer himself, and Mosby was also restive. He noticed that the others were also staying as far away as the open perimeter would permit, Orry and Rhian comforting the hounds.
The sound of a rider coming up from the right drew their attention. Thomas Kethin appeared and joined them. “I came out of the woods on the back trail but close to one of the footpaths, and I lost the track there. I could see you headed down to the ford below me, so I crossed over at the bridge to join you and met Rhys coming up the road. I’ve left him down by the gate.”
“Where are we, do you think?” Idris asked him.
“By the shape of the slope, I’d say we’re roughly behind the balineum. The west branch can’t be far from here, where it enters under the ground.”
They cou
