Close by the stream was a weathered boulder over which a tangle of bramble bushes formed a thorny net. Under it was a space that looked adequate for a smallish person to hide in. I slipped the bag from my back, getting down on all fours to thrust it in ahead of me. Then, cradling Becan’s head with one hand, I wriggled my body in. The hollow was a lucky find, bigger than it had seemed from the outside, with a dry earthen floor. My heart was pounding; my palms were clammy. I made myself breathe slowly.

Something flashed past the opening, jolting my heart. A man running, long legs, a swirling cloak, passing so close I felt the air stir against my face. I heard his breathing, hard but controlled, and his feet light on the forest floor, then splashing as he crossed the stream. And now, from up the hill, the dogs again, their clamor more insistent, moving fast—the pursuers had indeed gone higher, then circled back. It sounded as if the hounds had been unleashed and were pelting fast toward their quarry: the man whose clothing had provided their scent. The man who had just run in their direction. I hadn’t been thinking straight before. It wasn’t me Aidan had been sent out to find. It was Cathal.

They were coming. They were coming down the hill, and Aidan would have to apprehend his childhood friend. I clenched my teeth, forcing myself to keep still. Going out there would achieve nothing. It would only mean I, too, would be dragged off home. Why, then, did every instinct tell me to do it, to rush out and interpose myself between the two of them, to stop something truly terrible from happening? I had seen the way they fought, as if they were not dear friends but bitterest enemies. I did not think this could end well.

Becan’s crying became an ear-splitting wail of panic. No, I mouthed. No, hush! But the noise only grew louder. I uncurled myself to sit upright, surprised again at how big the hollow was. I took the baby from the sling, held him against my shoulder and patted his back. I did not dare speak words of reassurance. For the first time I prayed that nobody else would be able to hear him.