"Do you even know where it is?"
"The staff is guiding me."
"The staff?"
He nodded. "You don't believe me."
"It's not a dowsing rod. It's just a piece of wood."
"It guided me to you in the river."
"It didn't."
"I had no idea where you were. I could see nothing under the water, but it moved me toward you. I reached out my hand, and there you were, and now you're safe."
"You're telling me the staff told you where I was? Seriously?"
He nodded again. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"I don't know. I know how magic works and...never mind."
They sat in silence for a while, drying slowly in the heat of the flames. After too short a time, Lennox stood up. "We must move. The day will soon be over."
"But you don't know how far we have to go."
"I know MacGregor Castle is under siege and every minute I spend away from it is a minute closer to its destruction."
"All right, I'm up. No need to guilt trip me."
He damped down the fire as the horse wandered over, looking as if it had only just forgiven them for its impromptu dunking.
Lennox climbed onto its back, rubbing its neck and speaking softly to it. The horse stopped stamping its feet, falling still. "Ready?" he asked, holding a hand down to Rose.
She climbed up, and they began to move, heading back onto the road that led away from the broken bridge and into the wood beyond.
"What is this place?" she asked, looking into the growing darkness of the thick foliage spreading along either side of the road.
"The Wildwood," he replied. "It is an ancient place, and the stone circle lies hidden deep within. Not many come along this road. Quinn says it is from here that the great darkness arose. I hope the staff kens what it is doing for we will soon be off all known tracks."
It didn’t seem that big a wood to Rose. After they had ridden for more than an hour, she changed her mind. The scenery remained the same, gnarled and twisted trees that seemed to exude age and anger.
The whole place seemed older than anything she'd ever known. Even the road had been swallowed by it, narrowing as moss and tree roots seemed to crawl ever closer to them.
Lennox stopped when they reached a fork, the track barely there at all.
"Which way?" she asked, looking from left to right, both directions appearing the same. "Or do you need to ask the staff?"
"This way," he replied, turning the horse to the right. "I think."
They continued until the grayness above them turned to definite black. Lennox stopped the horse. At that point. "I dare not go any further until morn."
"We sleep here?" Rose asked, listening to the sound of rustling leaves and twigs cracking in the distance. "What if there’s wolves?"
"No animals ever come into the Wildwood. We will be fine."
They climbed down, Rose leaning back against a tree as Lennox tied the horse to another. "Here," he said, taking her hand in his. "Stay close. I do not want to lose you in the darkness."
She was glad of his hand as he moved from one space to another. It was too dark to tell what he was doing, but when his hand slipped away, she almost panicked. "In here," he said just as she was about to call out.
