At last he reached the point that he had been hoping to find for most of the journey. The tracks turned suddenly north.
He stood for a little while on the spot, gazing in the direction they had taken. What was up there? Another valley? And what were Nilsson and his men doing, anyway? For a moment he considered going a little way after them to see if he could find an answer to these questions, but the urge soon left him. He had spent much of the journey so far looking to be free of these people and now he was. Now all he had to concern himself about was remembering the way to the capital.
He turned his horse to the west.
As he did so a swirling flock of small birds flew low overhead, the sound of their wings loud and urgent.
Then an unexpected and strong breeze began to blow. His horse
