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The track to Copeland was in reasonable repair, but it was evident something large, or of considerable weight, had recently passed in the direction Harry and Patrick were travelling; the giveaway being the fresh deep wheel ruts and the astonishing number of huge indentations of cloven hoof marks.
‘This I’ve got to see,’ said Patrick, ‘there must be at least a dozen, or maybe even more bullocks pulling their guts out to move whatever the load is. Something connected with the mine upgrades would be my guess. C’mon, let’s catch ‘em up.’
At a gentle canter, half an hour later, they heard the bullock team before it came into sight. Most of their pursuit had been on a relatively gentle uphill gradient, but from Harry and Patrick’s current vantage point above the bullock team, it was obviou
