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interior. Two men, hooded and cloaked and masked in shadow, guided us up the ramp. Not unexpectedly, the ramp rose behind me, cutting off the light from the street before I’d gotten much of a look at the wagon’s interior.
    What little I did see didn’t tell me much. Two padded benches lined each side, but the box remained otherwise un-decorated. There did appear to be a small window at the top of the forward wall that would let someone communicate with the driver, but the panel covering it was closed. When the ramp closed, I heard a bar being dropped behind it to keep it shut. Someone slapped a hand against the back of the wagon, then we started off with a lurch that spilled me to the floor at my companions’ feet.
    “Really, Hawkins, time enough to thank me for including you on this adventure later. No need to prostrate yourself now …”
    I made sure to press down heavily on Leigh’s thigh as I climbed to my feet. “I have no intention of letting you believe I’m ungrateful, Leigh.”
    “I see that.” He hissed with pain and gently shoved me back. I stumbled into Rounce’s lap, then slid off to my left and onto the empty half of a bench across from Nay. “Well, quite the interesting little start to our adventure, is it not, gentlemen?”
    I twisted around and settled my back against the rear of the wagon. “I’m fairly certain Rounce would prefer Lindsey’s warm kisses to this cold box.”
    “I’ll just carry on bravely, Tarrant, and she’ll reward me for it.”
    “Quite so; that’s the spirit.” Leigh’s voice shifted in tone to something a little less warm. “What think you, Nay?”
    “Don’t know as what I’m supposed to think.” Nay sniffed twice. “Racing along like this, we’ll be out of the city soon.”
    I nodded. The wagon had kept on rather straight, only making the few jogs that High Street did as it headed to the West Gate. This time of night it would run into little if any traffic on the way, and if we were meant to travel out of the city, I had little doubt those taking us would have the authority to speed on through the gate. “If we head west, we’ll be into the forests before much time. Anyone have an idea what they’ll do with us?”
    “Dear boy, for us to have any idea of what they will do with us would be for us to be privy to information we’re not supposed to have.” Leigh laughed carelessly. “I couldspeculate about what they might do with us, if you wish.”
    I was determined not to give him the satisfaction, but a wheel hit a pothole, jouncing me up and landing me on my backside hard enough to force a quick yip from me.
    “Oh, prize to the wolf-yipper. That’s it exactly.”
    “Leigh, explain it, if you please, for those of us who aren’t as fluent in wolf as Tarrant is.”
    “It is simple, dear Rounce. They will be taking us deep into the wood and will drop us off in some spot from which we will be forced to make our way home. The journey will call upon us to work together to survive, and will demand from us all our survival skills. We’ll have to find food and water, all those things. It will be a fun outing.”
    My eyes narrowed. “You knew this very much in advance, didn’t you?”
    “Know? No.”
    I leaned forward. “If not, why did you choose to wear a coat this evening, one thick enough to keep you warm if we’re a couple of nights out in the woods?”
    “Well, I might have guessed a coat would be useful, but not as useful as you think.” Leigh’s hand slapped against the wagon’s wall. “This coach will travel twice as fast as a man c*n walk in an hour, or perhaps three times. I have no innate sense of time …”
    “That’s right,” Rounce growled, “which is why you always manage to be late.”
    “That notwithstanding, Rounce, the simple fact is that you or Hawkins or even our new friend will likely be able to look at the moon when we are released and can guess how long we have been traveling. At best, I would imagine, we will have eight hours of walking back.”
    “Puzzle that out yourself?”
    “Indeed I