The horse had wandered down the ridge to the right in search of grazing, and the prints of a woman's foot led to the summit of a knoll which raised itself above the trees.
There, knee-deep in a patch of fern, I saw what I had never dreamed of, what sent the blood from my heart in a cold shudder of fear: a girl, pale and dishevelled, was trying to part some vines.

A twig crackled and she looked round, showing a face drawn with weariness and eyes large with terror.
It was Elspeth! At the sight of Shalah she made to scream, but checked herself.

It was well, for a scream would have brought all of us to instant death.
For Shalah at that moment dropped to earth and wriggled into a covert overlooking the vale.

I had the sense to catch the girl and pull her after him.

He stopped dead, and we two lay also like mice.