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and louder, like thunder, until the forest shadows rocked and swayed and I thought the trees would come crashing to the ground. I lurched to my feet and my crucifix slipped from my chest; frantically I scrabbled in the leaf litter until I found it and then slumped against the tree trunk, my shouted prayers snatched away by the uproar. Giant black clouds still blotted out the moon and in the darkness the air around me seemed crowded with spectres, invisible tormenters hissing from tree to tree, shrieking in front and then behind me so that I did not know in which direction to turn. Then, crashing into the clearing came a pack of monstrous black dogs, pounding past me with a horrible, rasping howl, and on their heels thundered a herd of enormous horses, black as night, with the same hideous, staring eyes as the horse-head of my nightmare. Astride the leading horse rode a shadowy figure, cape flooding out behind him like the wings of a demon, bearing straight down on me. At the last moment the horse veered to my left and charged past, followed by twenty or more horses and riders, kicking up the embers of my fire into the black night air.
    The din died away as abruptly as it had arisen. Leaves swirled silently to the ground through air thick with dust and I sank to my knees, clutching my crucifix in trembling hands. Never had I suffered such a terrifying ordeal, not even in my wildest imaginings. Kneeling alone in the forest, I prayed again for my salvation and for deliverance from the monstrous beings.

    * * *

    The night dragged on, slow and menacing as a black adder. I lay in shocked stillness for I know not how long, huddled at the base of the beech, not daring to move yet dreading the return of the spectres.
    Eventually I lifted my head and peered around, hardly breathing. I could see nothing in the blackness and cursed the moon for deserting me. Darkness had held especial fears for me ever since childhood nightmares had haunted my sleep: dreams of wolves and birds of prey, hunting me like an animal. But none were as bad as the nightmare I had suffered this night.
    Taut as a bowstring, I crept cautiously into the clearing, fumbling in the darkness for dry kindling. Suddenly struck cold by the thought that my fire might have attracted the monsters in the first place, I immediately abandoned my plan and returned to the refuge of the beech.
    I tried to unravel my tormented and tangled thoughts. For a while I thought that, if I survived the night, I would return to the seashore in the hope of attracting the attention of a trading ship. But I did not cling to the idea for long, because I knew that it was ridiculous; even a coast-hugging Saxon vessel would be unlikely to venture into a deserted cove. I had no choice but to head inland, where I would surely encounter a settlement or at least a farm. Perhaps from there I could obtain a guide to take me to a landing harbour where I might gain passage away from this land.
    After what seemed an age, moonlight filtered through the branches, picking out flowering shrubbery like silver filigree. Taking comfort in the soft light, I began to think of Eappa and the Mission. I thought about the reasons they had sent me into the forest and the importance to the Mission of any information I could gather. I thought of the trust Eappa had placed in me and I began to feel ashamed of my fears. I had only suffered a nightmare and Eappa had taught me that such things were merely the ravings of a tormented mind. And the creatures which had stampeded through the clearing, be they spectres or remnants of my nightmare, had not hurt me.
    I recalled stories told to us by Eappa about the true men of God, who braved ordeals for the glory of the Lord. I thought of Guthlac, most revered of missionaries, who had been attacked by demons in the wastelands of the East Angles and had repelled the monsters with the power of prayer.
    Indeed, there were many virtuous hermits, servants of the Lord who, for the name of