Deep in the Woods

But as she continued south without coming to the inn that she had hoped to find, and the woods around the trail seemed to get ever denser, her hope that she could get word to her House ebbed away. She stopped for her midday meal, taking supplies from her pack, and whilst she ate she considered what she should do. Should she cut her losses, and retrace her steps? If she turned back now, there would just about be time to get back to her coach before it got dark. Spending the night there would surely be better than spending it in the middle of these woods.

But then she saw a wisp of smoke above the trees in the direction that she had been headed. The inn! she thought, immediately feeling much more cheerful. She could get a horse there, and perhaps be home by late tomorrow.

Finishing her meal, she continued south.

1. She reached the source of the smoke. As she had hoped, the smoke came from the chimney of the inn.
2. She came to the source of the smoke. It was the inn - or what was left of it. It had been torched!
3. Before she had gone very far, it became clear that the source of the smoke was not on the path but somewhere off to one side. So it couldn't be the inn.

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