Going Afloat

She decided that she would take the raft, and that she would try to go downstream since that seemed much the more practical option. Apart from the problem of going against the current if she tried to go upstream, there was also the danger that the water might become even shallower and that she would run aground.

She knew that there was a degree of risk involved in taking the raft. If anyone should spot her, there would be nowhere for her to hide. Also any observer would be bound to wonder what a lone woman was doing on a raft, even if word had not yet spread concerning how she was now dressed. But she hoped that it was less likely that a stream would be watched than that the roads would be. The stream seemed to be quite fast-running, so she should make much better than walking pace, if not perhaps quite the equal of Folly's canter.

Astra realised that if she got Folly onto the raft whilst it was beached, his weight would mean that she would never be able to launch it. But getting him onto it whilst it was afloat could be difficult, even assuming that he was willing.

Astra took off her slippers and placed them on the raft. Then she pushed it until it floated and quickly scrambled aboard. "Are you going to come with me, Folly?" she asked.

1. He showed no sign of coming into the water, and she could swear that he shook his head. "Then thank you for all your help, and please thank Mercury for me when you get home," she said.
2. Folly came into the stream, and somehow managed to clamber onto the raft without tipping it over.
3. Folly did not enter the water, but he followed along the bank as the raft began to drift downstream.

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