[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo was beginning to wonder if they could possibly be walking in circles. They had only taken a few days to journey down river on the raft. Why would their trip back home be taking so long? They couldn't even see the river any more. Maybe they had veered off to the west and would never get back to Buckland again. That thought made him exceedingly gloomy.

At least the members of their party weren't squabbling with one another. But it was not long before Bingo began to feel that the long periods of silence were even harder to take than some good honest fighting. Perhaps his friends were afraid to say what was on their minds because they had lost all hope of ever returning.

The grime and hunger were an annoyance to Bingo, but no more than that. He could have ignored the gnawing sensation in his stomach and the fact that his shirt now looked little better than a dirty old rag, if only his brother was with him. Bingo missed Reggie more than he could ever put in words. His whole life had been spent beside his brother. He had consoled himself at the death of his parents by saying that at least he still had a family in the shape of Reggie. Now Reggie was gone, and Bingo was feeling very lonely. Whenever he thought he heard a noise in the bushes or a footfall coming behind them on the path, he whirled around to see if his brother was there. But every time he had been disappointed. Still, he hadn't entirely given up hope. Whether they reached Buckland or not, Bingo was not at all certain. But something inside his head still reassured him that somehow, someway, Reggie would find his way back with or without Falco, and they would be together again.