I can breathe again. No need to race off south. She’s coming home. Going to sort it all out. I hope. She doesn’t like being wrong; doesn’t like folk to tell her so. Doesn’t like being stopped in her tracks. Mathuin, his crime, burning her man and her little one, that’s so vile I can hardly think about it. But her man, Cass, he wouldn’t want her taking Mathuin on all by herself. If he was here, he’d tell her getting herself killed won’t bring him and Brennan back. All it’ll do is give Mathuin another victory. Not something I can tell her. Deep down, she knows. But sometimes, when the past catches up, you just can’t stop yourself.

The old woman tells the story, and an odd one it is. A couple of fellows take a herd of pigs into Dreamer’s Wood to forage. This is before the time when folk know the place is dangerous. Before they know strange things can happen there if a body isn’t watchful. So, while the pigs roam about, the two fellows stop by the pool to eat their bread and cheese. It’s a warm day and they start to feel sleepy. One of them says what a pretty spot it is, sun coming down between the leaves, dragonflies over the water, birds calling up above. The other one says Yes, isn’t it? Then there’s a great crashing and smashing on the bank above the water, and in falls their prize boar, that was going to make their fortune someday. It’s gone in deep, and it hasn’t come up.

I’ll go in, says the first man. No, I’ll go in, I’m a better swimmer, says his brother. You stay here and make sure none of the others follow. He jumps in and swims out to the spot where the boar has sunk without a trace, and he dives down to find it. The first brother waits and waits, pacing along the bank and back again, thinking they’re drowned, his brother and the pig both. Then up they pop, the two of them, swim back to the shore and scramble out in a spot where the bank’s lower.

Seems like a happy ending for all concerned. But no; something’s wrong. The brother who went in the water can’t talk anymore. Opens his mouth and all that comes out is grunting sounds. And the pig’s scared out of its wits, standing on the shore shivering and shaking. Some of the sows wander over to take a look, sniff the boar and back off quick. The first brother has to lead his brother home by the arm, the fellow’s so confused. And the swine are acting terrified, jumping around and squealing. None of them wants to be anywhere near the boar.