The skyline was alight for as far as they could see to the left, and right up to the spinney above them. Even as they watched another tree flared up and the sky was blotted out by the billowing clouds of smoke. And all the while the wind that Penny hated blew harder. It roared down at them steadily and relentlessly and fanned the flames crackling through the dry and brittle undergrowth.

"It will burn itself out when it gets down here," Peter whispered almost to herself. "It can't spread over this grass. But we'd better get down in the ditch, Penny."

"Sparks are blowing down the ditch now, Peter. There's plenty of gorse and stuff to catch fire down there, isn't there?... LOOK, Peter! LOOK! I can see HORSES!"

And then, as if to complete the fantastic picture of a moorland fire, in the middle of a cold winter's night they saw some six or eight horsemen come galloping through the flames and smoke straight towards them down the hill.

Peter wondered if she was dreaming again, and then suddenly she recognized the riders.

"It's Reuben, the gipsy," she shouted as she grabbed Penny's arm. "I don't see how it could be, but it is... and that's our Jenny behind him! Hi, Reuben!"

Then they found themselves scrambling down the sides of the ditch as the horsemen shouted at them. Reuben smiled as he soothed his horse and Jenny, with shining eyes, flung herself between them.

"The whistle worked, Peter. See how it worked! And Alan is about somewhere. We found him almost at once... I told him about Cantor and the boys and he said he'd help. Have you found anything?"

The ditch seemed full of plunging horses and shouting, swearing men who had no time for anything but care of the terrified animals. In the distance Peter saw Alan struggling with his hunter. The sky seemed full of flying sparks and burning twigs, and although some of them fell nearby no fresh fires were started, probably because in the dyke they were sheltered from the wind, but there was so much noise that the girls had to shout to each other to be heard.

"Have you found anything else?" Jenny shouted above the clamour. "Do you know that they're here? I told Reuben and Alan that they were. I hope I was right!"

"You are," Penny shouted in her ear. "Jon has been signalling to us from inside and we got the message... I wish the horses weren't so scared, and then we could talk to these men you've brought, Jenny. You said you were going to get help, and you've certainly done it."

When they turned round Peter was shouting at Reuben, who was still holding his horse. Penny, in exasperation that they were not doing something more spectacular, skipped back out of the way of the horses' restless feet and felt something move against her back.