But after Luke had consulted his maps he shook his head. “The roads seem to run mostly north and south, the way most of the valleys go. Nobody would build a road over the top unless they had to. And this is all wilderness park. I mean it was. Back then.” They crossed the road and ploughed on through the high grass.

Later that afternoon they crossed another road. It was the last sign of the old civilization that they were to see for days.

As the sun set and the sky slowly darkened, the stars began to appear. “See over there in the east.” Luke pointed. “Those three bright stars that form a triangle. So long as we see them ahead of us we'll be heading in the right direction. Below them there is a neck between two mountains. Do you see it? Tomorrow we'll be up there. Tomorrow we'll see the way ahead more clearly.”

See our way more clearly. Ruth envied Luke's certainty. But then he had the maps. All she had was a shifting kaleidoscope of dreams. Turn them this way and a pattern emerged. Turn them again and the fragments would form a shape with a quite different meaning.

Suppose I’m wrong? Suppose the Four were wrong to believe in my dreams? Maybe it's all in my head and I'm leading them into the wilderness. To starvation and death.

That night she twisted and turned, slept and woke and slept again only fitfully. The next day, as they climbed slowly up towards the high pass between the even higher ranges, her thoughts pounded in her head. Suppose I’m wrong? Suppose…

As the way grew steeper the scatter of great beech and maple trees gave way to close-set hemlock and pine. Beneath their shade it was almost chilly. A sudden rattle directly overhead startled them all. They froze. A small rusty grey animal with a bushy tail scuttled down a tree trunk and leapt across to another.

“It's all right,” Athena's voice quivered. “It's a squirrel, that's all. Just a squirrel.”

“If that's the biggest creature we meet I guess we have nothing to worry about,” Angela joked.

“I'm surprised we didn't meet elk and deer crossing the grassland. Up here I'd expect to find bear.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“Who knows? Our information is a hundred and forty years out of date. Perhaps with fewer people, less pressure and no pollution, their habits may have changed.”

“And if they haven't?”

“Short-sighted and bad tempered. If we see any signs of their presence we should make a lot of noise. That's supposed to scare them off.”

“Let's get Ruth to sing,” Angela suggested unkindly.

“Maybe I will!”

“What we should do is to make sure we stick together. No wandering off,” said the Initiator firmly.