I was very glad to set down the stone sword and my other burdens. My shoulder felt bruised while the rest of my body was a mass of aches from having to bend and lean to avoid branches and creepers. I knelt stiffly and cupped water to my mouth, and then I splashed my face and refilled the water gourd I had already emptied. Unsure how long we would stay here, I resisted the desire to sit down and rest and took out the straps I had packed to fasten the stone sword to Gahltha. Since no one at Obernewtyn used saddles and reins, Grufyyd and Alad had produced a web of straps that could be fastened in various ways, so that a horse might carry a burden without being chafed by ropes.

Gahltha read my intention and came amiably over to me, dropping his head to crop at the grass while I, after some thought, laid the sword lengthwise along his back to prevent it constantly catching on greenery. Once it had been strapped down, I tied the pack and the bow and quiver to loops set at intervals along the webbing straps. I left no room for myself, for as I told Maruman, we were moving so slowly that I might just as well walk. Maruman did not respond, though Gahltha said that he could carry me as well as the things I had strapped to his back, if only I rearranged them.

‘Later,’ I sent, stroking his nose fondly.

‘Let us go,’ Maruman said impatiently, and he leapt up onto a low-hanging branch then onto Gahltha’s back, making himself comfortable atop the pack.

Gahltha went on and I walked behind with Darga. Since Gahltha was opening up a path and crushing the undergrowth, it was relatively easy to follow in his wake, and I was very glad to be unencumbered. I would have been concerned about the trail we were leaving, if there were not so many horses moving about the valley who might have left it. My footsteps would be far more telling, save that they began in the middle of untracked wilderness.