The horses' hooves clopped along.
Guided by the scouts, Garon led his men northwest along Pine Forest for about ten minutes.
They soon reached the edge of the pine forest.
The five scouts keeping watch there had tied their horses to pine trees behind them. They were using the shrubs and other vegetation to observe the hillside below.
Hearing the hoofbeats, they turned around warily. When they saw Garon and his men arriving, they relaxed and turned to greet them.
Garon swung down from his horse and asked the scouts, "What's the situation?"
"Lord Garon, look!"
One of the scouts took a couple of steps toward the edge of the pine forest and pointed down the hillside. "There are signs of smoke over there!"
Garon followed the direction he indicated and, while the sky had not yet grown completely dark, looked down from where he stood.
Beyond the pine forest, several rolling hills stretched down the lush green slope.
Beyond the hills, waves battered the shore.
Standing on the hillside, Garon saw a wisp of smoke curling up from a hollow in one of the hills.
The hilltop blocked his view, so he couldn't tell who was making the smoke.
Garon estimated the distance between them and the smoke, then carefully surveyed the surroundings. He saw no Wildling cave.
At that moment, Jon came up beside him and said, "Garon, it doesn't look like the people making the smoke are Wildlings."
"The smoke is very close to the shore. Could they be pirates or poachers?"
Garon nodded in agreement. "It's possible!"
Jon asked, "What should we do now?"
Garon narrowed his eyes and studied the smoke for a moment before making his decision.
"We'll go over and take a look. Find out what's going on!"
He turned toward Mihawk and