The three of them, still unmounted continued through the woods, paralleling the road. They walked slowly and reasonably quietly listening for the pursuers returning. Within half an hour they heard them return. They were travelling much slower this time and their swords were sheathed.

'I'm going to kill that Innkeeper!' said one.

'Not if I get to him first,' said another. 'Sending us on a wild goose chase. There's nowhere they could be along here. The road ahead is empty as far as the ford which is hours more in distance. Unless they rode their horses are much faster than ours.'

'I say string him up by his guts, said yet another. 'Let him feel some real pain before he dies.'

'Aye, he'll feel pain all right,' said the first.

They passed out of hearing and the three travellers returned to the road and continued their journey, hurrying their mounts this time lest their pursuers find where they left the road and followed their trail through the woods. None of them was a woodsman and the horses left tracks in the soft soil. Within 10 minutes, they crested a hill and saw on open plain before them. The road went quite straight and they could see all of it down to a ford many miles ahead of them. Nothing moved on the road, it was completely empty. Grasslands stretched in all directions, except behind them, as far as the eye could see. There was no where to hide should their pursuers return.

*********

A day or two later, Dana, the Duke and Richard went to look up Peter. He looked well rested and fed.

'Hi,' he said to them. 'This place is great. At least for me. Some of the other prisoners are having a rough time though. I'm probably the best off person here.'

'So you're doing well?' asked Dana.

'Well, I'm sure our work is suffering. The girls can't carry the loads of earth that I bring in. Also, there's no one to protect them. Mama Rita gave me that job. I was to be their brother and guardian. Now there's no telling what manner of unsightly behaviour might be going on.'

'Yes,' said the Duke. 'How if I send someone to help them? I've got any number of gentlemen I can spare.'

'Well, sir, I would take that as a kindness. The girls, they can do pretty much anything for themselves, but some men think they're ptuibaten and would force themselves on them if they haven't any man around.'

'I'll send one of my men as soon as I get home again,' said the Duke. 'I've no stomach for such wanton behaviour.'

Dana turned to Richard, 'Can you help this young man's case?'

'I would need to know the facts, first, madam,' he said. Then, turning to Peter, he added, 'So what has happened?'

'Mama Rita, our mother and protectress has died. A sad day for so many people.'

'Okay, Peter,' said Richard. 'How did she die?'

'It was time for her to go home. That's what she said,' said Peter. 'See, her ancestor died a few days ago. The time had come. Then Mama Rita started bemoaning that she had no living relatives. See, she hadn't any children of her own. When we tried to cheer her up with the thought of all the children she had helped, she just moaned all the more. Then, once when she was alone in the house with me, she turned to me and said that it was time for her to go home. Within half an hour, she went from a healthy woman to this scrawny, shrivelled up woman. And then, she died. She kept saying how happy she was that she was going home.'

'Strange,' said Dana.

'That she could die that way?' asked the Duke.

'No,' said Dana. 'The other day, when we met you in the square, Peter, you were talking like you couldn't put a full word together, and now you're using all kinds of educated sounding words.'

'I was scared and excited that day,' Peter said. 'Today, I'm relaxed and can remember my lessons at Mama Rita's knee. She taught us all, took us right through from our letters to our numbers to advanced calculus, history, chemistry, and sociology.'

'She was an extraordinary woman then!'

'I'm not sure she was a woman,' said Richard. 'I met her that day with Franna. I seem to remember some suggestion that she was very old, much older than even the King himself. It was like standing beside a pool whose very bottom is deep beyond reckoning.'

'That may be,' said the Duke. 'I've heard in our family tree are some who live almost forever. Hundreds upon hundreds of years. Some cousins of ancestors that are still alive today and were alive in King George's day, five centuries ago.'

Peter looked a little frightened. 'I was brought up by some kind of ghoul you mean?'

'No,' said Richard. 'Most certainly not a ghoul. You know how good she was. There's no denying she was a good person. Remember her goodness and ignore anything else.'

'Hmmm, yes,' said the Duke. 'She was a good person. No need to fear anything about her.'

'So, why would she have never said anything about it?'

'May hap it never came up, or she thought you would figure it out on your own.'

'Well,' said Dana. 'What's to be done now? It's no good leaving Peter in gaol, is it?'

'No, certainly not,' said both Richard and the Duke. Dana almost laughed at the way father and son sounded so alike.

Richard continued, 'So, why are they claiming you killed her? Did the police claim you poisoned her or something?'

'I think they were saying I put some kind of hex on her. I don't know any hexes or curses that do such things.'

'I'll get to the bottom of this,' said Richard. 'It's ridiculous is what is is.'

He left the cell and called for the warden. The three still there talked about the kinds of things Mama Rita had taught Peter. Dana had never heard of some of the types of math, but his knowledge of history was obviously superior to anyone Dana had ever talked to. When the Duke asked him about George and the founding of the Kingdom, Peter went on for sometime telling them interesting and sometime rather outlandish things about the adventures of the Founding King. Some of it sounded quite fanciful, but the Duke told her that what he related was what was in the history books, though in some cases, Peter seemed to know a few things that the Duke was quite sure weren't in the history books.

Eventually, Richard came back. 'They're being stubborn,' he said. 'A hex, a curse or the evil eye. They seem to believe anyone can just look at you and cause you to have horrible luck, even shrivel up and die. And to prove that it's possible they use Peter as the example, even though that's their only instance. I'll have to come back with an order from the King to release him. I'm sorry, Peter.'

'Don't worry about me. I've got some time to think here. Not doing all the time. Just, Your Masterfulness, if you could send a man around to help protect the girls, that would ease my heart considerably.'

'Don't you worry, there'll be a man there within the hour,' the Duke told him.

They left the place and when they returned to the Duke's house, Richard, Samuel, Martug and David all went to Mama Rita's house. The Duke had Magra instruct the cooks to make them something to eat. He then sat before the fireplace and told Dana to sit with him.

'Tell me, my dear,' he said. 'What do you think of him?'

'Him?' said Dana, afraid of whom he might be talking about.

'Him, my son,' said the Duke. 'I've noticed a certain glow on your face when you're with him and especially when you're talking to him that isn't there when he's not around. I've also noticed him smiling and looking dreamy when he thinks he's alone these last few days. Much more than I have ever seen him.'

Dana's fear had been right. 'I think he's a good man,' she said. 'Why do you ask.'

'And well,' said the Duke. 'I would like grandchildren from my son son one day. I would also like to see him happy. And also to see you happy. You've already become like one of my own household. I remember your story of the first husband that your uncle gave you, and how your Jonathan was a perfect gentleman with you. You've no children... that is to say, we have to think of your future. Say you regain your father's duchy. Then you could have any man you wanted, but you wouldn't know that that man was not merely interested in your money, and could very well treat you like your uncle's relative. I would like to see you with someone considerably better, and if my son isn't a quite gentle with you, you can be sure I would censure him severely.'

Throughout this speech the Duke was looking nervous and had changed the pace of his voice quickly and running through it.

'I don't know,' Dana replied. 'Don't you think he should say something to me first?'

'Well, that could be sense, except I taught him to talk to the Lady's guardian first. To avoid the family having an issue with him, to respect that guardian, and to hear from someone who knows her heart a bit more. When my daughter's friend decided he wanted to be with her, he came to me before saying anything to me. And right he was to do it. A previous friend of hers had tried to talk to her first and turned out to be a scoundrel. Anyway, after hearing the friend the came to me, I talked to her about it and then told her he was welcome to join us at family meals for a while to get to know her better.'

'So,' said Dana. 'You're not coming to me as your son's advocate, but as my guardian?'

'Well, my son didn't feel right in approaching you directly. Nor did I. I am certainly not your guardian. I...'

Dana interrupted him, 'Yes, you are,' she said. 'I'm glad you placed yourself there. You've provided so much for me. I'm quite sure you and my father and my grandfather would be friends. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for taking us in and bringing us here, and then helping me regain my father's duchy. And now to guard me from men who would desire to take advantage of me. You have been too much.' She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she continued. 'If your son is half the man you are, I would be happy to be with him for the rest of my life.' She smiled as tears did start down her cheeks. 'I didn't think he would be interested in a woman who is twice widowed.'

'My son does not believe in bad luck like that,' said the Duke.

'No, that I'm not... that he's not the first.'

'Don't worry about that. He fell in love with you hearing your son tell him about you. He knew 'a woman like that is worth her weight in gold.' (Those were his words.) He also told me that when he saw you he decided that Marchan had no idea how beautiful you were since he had never mentioned you were even pretty. Ah, but now I think I'm advocating for my son. I should let him do that. Shall I tell him that you would be willing to let him suit you?'

Dana nodded. She was sure that her voice would not come, so she did not even try.

*******

The bivouaked that night without a fire halfway to the ford. They had travelled all afternoon across the plain, but had been able to make it only halfway to the ford. Looks were deceiving and the plain made the ford look accessible after a mere afternoon stroll. They weren't even sure they were half the way there yet. It might still be a day's journey or more to the ford. They weren't quite sure. Canod said he had come another way from the mountains that was more roundabout and had never been on this plain.

The next morning they woke to brilliant light. The sun coming up over the mountains ahead of them was glinting off the snow on their peaks. Trevor grimaced and said, 'It'll be winter soon enough. We'll have to hurry to avoid getting caught in the mountains.'

Canod nodded, 'I've been in the mountains in winter. It's not fun without a place to stay. Travelling through is nasty. Still I'll lead you as best I can.'

They started out, Marchan tired as his sleep had been interrupted by strange dreams. The horses plodded on and they did not seem to be going anywhere, the mountains were ahead, the ford was ahead, there was a small strip of dark green on the horizon behind them to mark the forest which had gotten smaller as they travelled the previous day, but now seemed to stay the same size. After an hour, nothing could tell Marchan they had moved at all.

Eventually the yellowed grass started getting thicker and they noticed wet patches on either side of their trail. Canod said they must have gotten to the same level as the river. The trail continued straight as sight. Whoever had built it had done a lot of work to make it straight. It did not skirt the web patches, which as they went on got bigger and started to look boggy, but rather was built over collections of round tubes that passed underneath, letting water pass without affecting the trail. The trail itself was about a meter wide and seemed to made of a deep black substance that was not affected by the weather. The hooves clopped on it as the horses continued their measured pace. The result was so soothing that eventually Marchan fell asleep and fell. Trevor and Canod had trouble not laughing at him, but he smiled good naturedly and remounted his horse which had stopped when he fell.

Just before sunset they finally arrived at the ford. The road appeared to go right through the river. Marchan could see the strange black trail surface continue into the water where it was covered by sand and then contined up the other side. It was almost as though the little tubes below it were missing in this little section. Marchan didn't think about it too much but just urged his horse to follow Canod's as his walked right out into the water.