"All right", Belloc smiled, "I'll tell you what I learn at the meeting when I return tomorrow afternoon. Mind the store while I'm gone, then." With that, he left.
Anest continued studying for a while, when Pip came to tell him that Mullen and he were ready and waiting. It was several hours before they had any success. It was very still and quiet out, and Pip spoke for the three of them when he muttered exasperatedly, "There's a few of them goblins about, I'll warrant. They've spooked everything off." They shot a young buck that seemed to be wandering alone, which was in itself not a good sign. But they needed meat, and were cautious when cleaning and skinning it, watching for any sign of trouble. Though there was none, they were glad to be back as dusk set in.
Later, he finished his chores, said goodnight to Caspar, his sons, and old Burli, and taking a candle from the study, made his way to his room where he slept fitfully, dreaming for the first time in many years of his mother.
Creation- Part Two
Early the next morning, as Anest lay half awake, caught in the netherworld between sleep and consciousness, an almost inaudible sound stirred around the edges of his consciousness. `Singing', he thought. `I hear singing'. An image of his mother came to his mind, but there was something odd about it that he couldn't quite place. As he became more awake, his senses became alert to another sound; that of gurgling, plashing water. "What on earth?" he said aloud, and getting up, went to the window to investigate.