Sally never seemed to tire, but Peter was very cold and stiff when she left the hill-tops behind her at last and reached a signpost which said "Clun 3 miles." The lane now was very steep, so she got off to stretch her legs and give the pony a rest. The woods here came right down to the road, and it was very dark under the trees. Almost for the first time to-day Peter wondered what her friends were doing and whether they had yet reached Craven Arms. And this thought made her wonder what Jon and Penny were like - and particularly Penny. The Club had been such fun in the early days, and now two strangers were coming. Would it ever be quite the same again?

The road was level once more and the woods were behind them as Sally stopped obediently and Peter lifted herself into the saddle. Soon she caught the gleam of water and realized that this must be the River Clun itself on its way from the hills of Clun Forest to join the river Teme and then the mighty Severn. For another mile she rode on by the side of the stream, next through a little wood, and then she looked up to see a smooth, steep hill in front of her crowned with the ruins of a castle.

"We're here! We've done it, Sally!" Peter said as she bent forward to pat the pony's neck.

As she got nearer she realized that the town must be on the other side of the hill, for she could see no houses - only this great green mound round which the river slid, acting as a moat. She turned Sally to the left, for the slope of the hill was gentler on that side, and joined the road again.

The sun had nearly gone but the broken stones of the ruins were tinged with the red light of his setting as she rode through an open gate on to the soft turf.

Then, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to cry with surprise, she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled a long, shrill "Pee-wit! Pee-wit!" As the echoes died away three human figures and a little black dog a quarter of the way up the hill turned their heads and looked back, but it was Mary who led the race down to her and flung her arms round her as she dismounted.

"Peter!" she shouted. "We've only just got here. Isn't this marvellous? Have you ever seen such a wonderful, weird, ghostly place in your life? Just as soon as we could escape from Agnes we came here."

"Hello, Peter," Dickie said as he trotted up. "We're very pleased to see you."

"Oh, Peter," Jenny began when she was still ten yards away, "have you had any marvellous adventures? We have! We met the gipsies and I had my fortune told."

Peter laughed. "Where are the others?"