| When it got dark enough that they had to make camp, Fred told Rowena:
"Wen, until we have left the Shreken safely behind us, we will need to
continue to keep watch at night. But now there are only two of us instead
of four. I can't stay awake all night and then spend the day travelling,
so are you willing to take a share of the watchkeeping?" "Of course. I'll
take the first watch if you like." "Good. You see that bright red planet
there?" And he pointed southeast. "Vulcan. I can recognise the planets
and the major constellations, so you can use their names and I'll understand
you. Yes, I can see Vulcan." "Well, when it is above that solitary tree
there, then about four hours should have passed. Wake me then for my watch
- or before, if anything out of the ordinary happens, of course. Not that
that is very likely whilst we are still in the valley."
So Rowena kept watch and kept their fire going, for the fire's advantage
in frightening away animals outweighed any slight risk of brigands seeing
it. The howls of the wolves seemed closer tonight than they had been the
previous night, but were still not close enough to pose any threat. After
a couple of hours had passed, Rowena found herself getting sleepy. I'm
too comfortable, she thought. So she got up and walked around for ten
minutes, and when she sat down again she chose a spot further from the
fire, so that the autumnal nip in the night air would help her keep awake.
She managed to stay awake, and her watch passed without any alarms.
She handed over to Fred, whose watch was equally uneventful. Rowena's watch
had lasted about four hours, but Fred let Rowena have six hours' sleep
before he woke her, as dawn broke. Rowena still felt tired. Even six hours'
sleep was less than she was used to. Her tiredness soon wore off, though.
They resumed their journey after they had breakfasted. Rowena had hoped
that, with the dwarves gone, Fred might be more communicative, but she
was to be disappointed. When she attempted to get him to talk about his
adventures he said: "Perhaps in a day or two, Wen. I don't feel like it
yet."
In the early afternoon they reached the head of the valley, and set
foot (or rather, their horses did) on Tumbar's Road. The way now lay uphill,
but not so steeply as to trouble their horses. That, of course, was why
Tumbar's Road was where it was, taking advantage of crossing the Shreken
at its lowest point for a hundred miles in either direction. The road's
surface was gravel, to prevent the vegetation reclaiming it too readily,
so it was important that horses using it should be properly shod. The gravel
of this section seemed to have been replenished fairly recently, so the
going was quite good.
After travelling the road for a couple of hours, Fred and Rowena breasted
a slight rise, and saw the first of the forts that guarded the road, a
few hundred yards ahead of them.
-
 As
they approached the fort, Fred became concerned, for no-one challenged
them.
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