June 23rd is overcast and warmer (82F), and you continue your ride. Late in the afternoon you come to an intersection with a trail which winds back into the mountains. A battered signpost proclaims -
The Great Western Road: East: To Trader Nest, Westmarish and Derextar.
West: To Durbash, Minloo and Orbash.
South: To Neemar's Ancestral Home.
Robert nudges Orlon.
"So that's where the old coot came from, eh?"
You ride west.
That night you camp near a bridge close by the West River. It flows fairly straight, now, as the valley has narrowed.