‘What is the matter?’ Elin shouted furiously at a ranting gossip, who was hurling refuse at us from the doorway of her house. ‘Why do you hate us? We have done nothing to you.’

Davy pulled her away. ‘Leave it, Elin. We should go now.’ Apparently sure of which direction to take, he marched her purposefully along the rutted road that led downhill out of the village, heading into a forested wilderness. Above us a blazing sun shone down from an azure sky. In any other circumstances it would have been a beautiful day.

Sian and I had to run to catch them up. ‘When we clear the village I think we should aim southwest,’ I told Davy. ‘Following the sun. I remember Lord Jasper saying that the lordship of Hay belongs to the Duke of Buckingham; he is a ward of Harri’s mother. We must try to reach it before nightfall.’

It was a stab in the dark, something to say. I did not even know how far it was. Our chosen path took us along forest trails, which climbed uphill and down, the valleys cut by fast-running streams. In a clearing by one of them, as the sun set, we sank down exhausted, ate apples, drank water from our cupped hands and rolled ourselves in the blankets in which we had wrapped our belongings. Fearful, I lay long awake, my ears straining for any sound but finally I slept and when I woke at first light it was to find that some unknown thief had crept up on us and made off with whatever he or she could carry, including Sian’s favourite doll and the few groats I had managed to squirrel away. Davy and Elin had taken the precaution of tucking all their belongings under their blankets and from them nothing had been taken, for which they earned my praise. Davy revealed the knife he had kept safe. ‘I think we might need it soon,’ he said seriously, comforting no one. Seeing our faces he added, ‘For cutting up any game we catch,’ which only prompted Elin to ask scornfully, ‘And how would we cook when we have no fire?’

‘We will not starve before we get to Hay,’ I said as cheerfully as I could.