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“Don’t think that just because I am not visibly worried that I am carefree,” James tells him. “On the contrary, I’m not. The tales concern me and I intend to use extreme caution and vigilance while there.”

“I hope so,” says Dave.

They ride throughout the day and sometime after lunch the forest begins to thin out and the terrain turns into rolling hills. “Must be getting close,” says James.

Not long after the hills appear they come to a junction. Either they can continue straight or take the road to the left. James continues on straight and from the rear he hears Qyrll say, “We should take the road to the left.”

Coming to a stop just past the left hand road, he turns his head back and asks, “Why?”

“We’ve been gradually turning to the east,” he explains. Pointing to the road branching to the left he says, “That one leads almost due north.”

“Are you sure?” Dave asks.

“Absolutely,” the Parvati replies.

“I think he’s right,” adds Jorry. Uther nods agreement.

Taking a moment, James looks around and notices the way the shadows are falling and begins nodding his head. “I think you’re right,” he agrees. “This way it is.” Turning his horse around, he returns to the other road and they begin following it.

They’re soon to realize this is the right way to go, the trees continue to thin and they catch glimpses through the trees of the mountains ahead of them to the north. Nestled somewhere within them lies the old town of Ironhold.

As they continue through the hills, the trees thin but don’t disappear altogether. Steadily, the hills become steeper and the road meanders first one way then the other in an attempt to follow the gentlest way.

Two hours after they left the other road, the hills open into a sort of plateau before the road reenters the mountains further ahead. A caravan is camped off to one side, other travelers are scattered throughout the area.

“Wonder what this is all about?” asks Jiron.

“I don’t know,” James replies. Giving the area a better scrutiny, he notices many spots which are currently unoccupied which once had been used. Sites of old campfires are seen throughout the plateau area.

Moving along, they come to three men sitting next to a wagon having what looks like stew. They look up as James approaches. “Excuse me,” he says to them. “I was wondering why everyone is camped here? I mean it isn’t that late.”

“Don’t want to take the chance of being in Ironhold when night falls,” one of the men tells him. “Most travelers who come this way stop here and continue on through in the morning.”

“One time,” another man adds, “we were coming through Ironhold and our wagon wheel broke. It was just about sunset and by the time we got it repaired, the sun had dropped below the horizon.” One of the other men nods his head in affirmation to what he’s saying.

“Before we could get all the way through a white shape appeared atop one of the old buildings and began wailing.” His eyes widen at the memory as he continues, “The sound seemed as if it was going right through you. We whipped our horse and got out of there fast. We’ll never take the chance of being caught in Ironhold when the sun goes down again.”

“Thanks,” James says.

Nodding, the men return to their meal.

Glancing back to the others, he can see fear and doubt creep into their eyes, even Uther’s. “Better find a spot and we’ll enter Ironhold in the morning,” he says.

“Might not be a bad idea,” agrees Jiron.

“Think it was a banshee?” asks Dave as they head over to an unoccupied spot near an old campfire ring.

“Who knows?” responds James. “Just don’t let your imagination get the best of you.”

“I’ll try not to,” he says.

They get the horses settled in and set about gathering enough wood to last the night. “I think we should still maintain a watch here,” he tells them once the fire is going and they’re having their dinner. “Don’t necessarily trust everyone here.”

“I agree,” Miko says.

Several more groups of travelers appear from the road to the south and join with the others in waiting for the coming of dawn. Not one