[Mithadan]

Mithadan and Bird halted their journey late in the afternoon, long before they would have reached Woody End. They moved off the road to the north and settled into a little hollow hidden from sight by tall grass and a tree that overshadowed the road. There they rested and prepared a camp for the evening in a liesurely fashion.

Bird stood and returned to the road to seek out a brook that they had passed not long before. A few minutes later, she returned at a run and threw herself down in the hollow next to Mithadan. "I hear a pony or horse coming along the road behind," she panted. The two ducked down behind the tall grass and peered out at the road as the sound of hoofbeats approached...