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'We'll see about this meal then, shall we? Then look around for somewhere to camp and we can look for these stones at the same time.'

They shared their meal with the landlord. He'd cooked up a rich, thick stew for his own purposes and welcomed their company whilst eating it. After they had eaten, they sat in the bar and washed down the meal with a couple of drinks. When they stepped outside, after a day without rain, the skies opened and a torrential downpour started. They rushed over to the post office and tried in vain to purchase a large-scale map of the area. With this line of attack thwarted, the two Americans attempted to work out a logical method of looking for a gate between two stones. They reasoned that it must be on a road somewhere and that it was most probably to the west of Llanfer as that was where they had found the centaur. With this in mind, they set off along the road to Gwydyr. As they left the post office, Jack saw a figure standing on the east road out of the village. It looked like it might be the policeman but as he had no intention of renewing that acquaintance, he paid no attention.

'I sent a postcard to Mom this morning,' David told him as they walked along.

'Oh yes?' Jack brushed away the rainwater that was gathering in his fringe and plastering his hair against his forehead.

'Yeah, I thought I ought to. Well, actually I found the postcard in the drawer in the bedroom. Didn't want to put it to waste.’

They took a few more strides in silence and then Jack spoke up.

'You know, David, maybe we should just forget about last night. Get away from here. '

'No way, Jack. That was murder last night. Just because the police don't want to know doesn't mean that we should ignore it. Hey, don't forget that he spoke to me. He was a real person.'

‘I guess you're right. Damn, if only I hadn't seen that policeman. Hey, I've just thought of something.

That vet I called, maybe we should still get him to have a look at the body.'

'If it's still there.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, if that policeman was trying to cover something up, he's not going to leave it lying around so that we can go showing it to anyone.'

Jack nodded reluctantly. 'Yeah, I guess you’re right.; He looked up from the road. 'Hey, there's someone coming,’

David looked up and saw that there was indeed an old man heading down the road towards them.

When they drew level, David gave a cheerful smile and said, 'Good afternoon, Sir, do you think you could help us?'

'What can I do for you, boys?' the old man asked: There was a note of distrust in his voice. Jack vaguely recognized him as the occupant of the bench outside the pub.

'We're looking for something - a gateway made of stone. I don't suppose you'd know of anything like that?'

‘'Well, there's lots of gates around here, but only the posts are made of stone, see?'

‘I guess so. Thanks very much anyway.'

The old man smiled at them. 'Good luck, boys. I hope you find what you're looking for.' He tottered off down the hill.

'He's right, you know,' Jack said. 'It is a bit of a hopeless cause.’

David clapped him on the shoulder. 'Yeah, but it’s worth it, isn’t it?'

Janet stood at her kitchen table and kneaded the pastry firmly with her knuckles, then formed it into a ball and pressed down on it again. It very nearly had the consistency she wanted. Just a couple more turns and it would be ready. She dipped a hand into the box of flour and sprinkled a light dusting on to the surface then she ran her hand up and down the rolling pin to give that a covering of flour as well.

With a few passes the pastry was thin enough to use and she carefully lifted it into the dish. A knife trimmed the excess edges off neatly and she picked up the bowl of filling that she had prepared some months earlier and frozen for later use.

.

There came a loud hammering at the front door. Janet sighed, quickly washed her hands, hung her apron over the back of a chair and then went to see who could be so anxious to get