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if she had been running.
    ‘No problem,’ replied Phil not very convincingly through a mouthful of his fingers , ‘what’s your rush anyway?’
    ‘It’s William and Damien, they say they’ve seen something from the walkway,’ she said, catching her breath , ‘you’ve got to come.’
    Instantly forgetting his banged fingers, Phil pushed himself past Chloe and began to run down the corridor. With the sound of multiple feet echoing off the stonewalls behind him, Phil could tell that at least Patrick and Imran were following close on his heels. He was halfway down the corridor when he passed a surprised looking Alice holding a large pile of washed nappies in her arms.
    ‘Whoa ,’ she called, turning abruptly so Phil didn’t inadvertently barrel into her, ‘what’s going on, Phil?’
    But Phil had already disappeared round a corner and her question was left hanging unanswered.
    ‘Trouble,’ she managed to ask, as Imran sped past her, closely followed by Patrick and Liz.
    ‘When isn’t it ,’ was all Imran could say, already reaching for an arrow from his quiver as he ran.
    Speeding through the Convent’s shadowy corridors, it took Phil less than thirty seconds before he burst through the large main doors , and out into the courtyard bathed in the bright spring sunshine. For a second, he blinked at the brightness, as his eyes adjusted to the light, but he knew the layout of the courtyard like the back of his hand and carried on moving regardless. With a flurry of mottled feathers and a riot of disapproving clucks, Phil ran through and scattered a dozen of their hens that had been merrily pecking away at the dirt, searching for something to eat. Jumping over one particularly stubborn hen that had refused to move, Phil made it to the ladder that led up to the walkway. Glancing up, he could see Damien and William standing in the southwest corner of the Convents walkway, both of them looking out and over to some specific point in the countryside.
    With a thunder of boots on the planks of the walkway, Phil reached the two men on watch.
    ‘What,’ he said, barely out of breath, ‘what is it?’
    Silently , William handed Phil a battered looking pair of binoculars and pointed out to the west. Lifting the binoculars to his eyes, Phil adjusted the focus slightly and saw what the two men on watch had been observant enough to notice.
    ‘Shit ,’ was all he could say, as he was joined by Imran and Patrick, with Liz coming closely behind them.
    ‘What is it?’ Patrick asked, and Phil handed the binoculars over to the man they had agreed would be the leader of Lanherne.
    ‘Smoke trail,’ Phil said, turning to Imran and Liz, ‘coming from the village.’
    ‘Damn ,’ said Patrick under his breath, lowering the binoculars again.
    ‘The smoke plume hasn’t got any bigger since we noticed it ,’ added Damien. ‘So whatever’s on fire can’t be that big.’
    ‘It’s the fact something’s burning in the village at all that worries me ,’ said Patrick, subconsciously rubbing his scar again. ‘Phil, Imran, I think you two should go check it out and take Rich with you.’
    ‘No,’ interrupted Liz , ‘I’m going with them. Alice or Nicky can keep an eye on Saleana.’
    Patrick looked briefly from Imran to Liz. He knew Liz was unrivalled in her skill with her sword. In fact, like many at Lanherne, he owed his life to the swiftness of her blade, but he was surprised that the young mother would so readily put herself in possible danger when there were others who could go in her stead. He certainly knew Helen would think twice before offering to leave their daughter behind in someone else’s care.
    ‘The best way I know to keep my child ,’ Liz began, almost as if she had read Patrick’s thoughts, ‘to keep all our children safe, is to fight for them. If I’m to stay on top of my game, I need to stay sharp, and training in the courtyard with some old scarecrow just isn’t the same, Patrick. I’ll be no