Calling Tam to him, he turned Jonah around and the trio set off along the deer trail at a brisk pace. They had not gone far when it began to dawn on him that they might be heading the wrong way. There had been a number of places where the trail had merged with other paths and as he looked about him, he realized that nothing seemed familiar.

He stared up through the trees. The colonel was leading the column north; Will Archer had taught him that the way to find north was to position yourself so that the sun was behind your left shoulder. But when he found the sun, it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. It was over his right shoulder.

He did not panic. He suddenly remembered that he had another way of working out his bearings. Twisting in his saddle he reached for the bag he’d taken from the cabin and drew out a small tobacco tin. He gazed down at it, running his fingers across the pitted lid. How could he have forgotten it? The tin had belonged to Uncle Will.

He opened it carefully. Resting inside were several objects: a spool of twine, two fish hooks, a stub of candle, a needle and thread and, wedged into a corner, a circular brass box. Closing the tin, he lifted up the box lid to reveal a two-inch diameter compass. He placed the compass in the palm of his hand, stared down at the dial and waited for the needle to settle; which it refused to do. It just kept moving back and forth, as though it couldn’t make up its mind where to stop.

Frowning, he turned to his right, extended his arm and tried again, with the same result. He turned to his left. There was no change. The needle kept revolving.

What’s happening? he wondered. Is it broken?

Only then did he feel the first stirrings of apprehension. He tried to recall the last time the compass had been used. It had been when he’d gone hunting with Uncle Will. There had been nothing wrong with it then, he was sure of that. He looked about him. If the compass was damaged, how was he going to find his way? What would Uncle Will do if he was here?