A breeze threaded through the trees.
Hope could not hear the night hawks calling. While that spared him the irritation, it also reminded him of the silver Steel Pen. The spell inside it had worked quite well, after all.
He made his way downhill. The trail on Sentinel Hill was not steep; its slope was just right, saving Hope considerable effort without making it hard to keep his footing.
Hope searched for the first tree described in the note, imagining the attacks he might encounter.
Someone clubbing me from behind—ideally, that would be all—
He heard something in the darkness and stopped.
It was not the sound of footsteps. It was sharper, louder, and there had been only one sound.
He looked roughly in the direction it had come from, but could make nothing out.
An attacker?
No, they shouldn't be that careless—or was it some small animal? Were there squirrels here?
Hope took another two steps. He could now distinguish the outline of a tree, so he left the trail and headed toward it.
But as he drew closer, Hope spotted a second tree in another direction.
Judging by the straight-line distance, the second tree seemed a little closer to the ox cart. After a moment's hesitation, however, Hope continued toward the first tree he had spotted.
Before he had gone far, Hope saw a third tree a little farther away. Its straight-line distance from the cart was also shorter than the first tree's.
This tree was actually the closest. Hope had strayed slightly from the downhill route, which was why he had only just noticed it.
All three trees were about the same distance from the ox cart—
*Yet Jack had deliberately used a description as vague as "the first tree you see"—under these circumstances, any of them