A Long Trek

There was little further change in the density of the jungle or in the amount of undergrowth. The strange lack of wildlife other than insects continued too. That rather concerned them. There was nothing obviously inimical to animal life that they could see, but surely there had to be some reason for the lack of it. Could whatever had caused it be a threat to them too?

And then at last they saw a substantial body of water ahead of them. Hurrying ahead till they reached the shore, they saw that the further side was far enough away to be out of sight. Waves six inches high were gently breaking on the sandy beach.

"Is this Lake Tol Nostra?" Fred asked.

Astra shrugged. "How should I know, any more than you?" she asked. "It's almost certainly a lake rather than the open sea, though. There are two reasons for thinking that. Either it's not tidal or is right at high tide just now, which would be unlikely. And there's no seaweed on the beach. There's one other test that I can apply, though. Tol Nostra has rivers flowing into it, but none coming out, so it's very salty." She dipped her hand in the water, then licked it.

1. "Salt," she reported. "It's either Tol Nostra or a sea. If it's a sea, then we should see the tide go out before too long."
2. "This water is fresh, or as near as makes no difference. It's therefore a lake, and obviously a large one, but it's clearly not Tol Nostra - nor the Dead Sea."

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