Backbone lurched forward, away from the snapping stick. It took several more hits before he gained a decent speed, finally picking up into a steady trot. Pocket jostled along, their supplies bouncing beneath him and struggled to keep the animal following the road and himself firmly seated. He scanned to the left of the road for the goblins, his racing heart leaping to his throat when he saw them. Backbone was not going fast enough. They were going to reach the goblins right as they gained the road! Pocket laid into Backbone’s flank with the stick, driving him to greater speeds. There came a cry of alarm as the Red Caps saw them coming, a few rushing up and spreading out to intercept them. Pocket urged the mule to barrel right over them, but Backbone spooked at the last moment, turning away from the nearest goblin and running off the road. Pocket felt a sudden impact behind him and Backbone screamed in protest as they shot down the grassy embankment off the roadside. Pocket looked over his shoulder and cried out when he saw the goblin clinging to the load ropes near the mule’s rump. He swung at the wickedly grinning face with his stick, but the goblin merely flinched away and struggled towards him. He risked a look ahead and was almost thrown off as Backbone flew headlong across the sloping fields. A hand seized the back of his tunic and yanked him backwards, causing him to pull up hard on the guide rope. The sharp, ornery cry of an angry mule filled his ears, and Pocket was flung off the lurching bundles, sky and ground trading places dizzyingly in his field of vision.