a thousand years ago.’
‘They can’t be that old,’ Luke said, leaning down beside Hutch.
‘No shit. But someone still knew how to use them after the Vikings.’
Luke placed an index finger on one. ‘Looks like a B. The trees get how old?’
‘This is a Scots pine. A big one too. Dead as a door nail, but they can live for about six hundred years.’
Dom threw both hands into the air, his waterproof swishing as he moved. ‘OK. OK. So what’s the plan, Time Team? I’d say runes on old bastard trees are at the bastard bottom on
our list of priorities, boys.’
Hutch and Luke moved away from the tree.
‘It’s all wrong,’ Phil said to himself. ‘Wrong.’
‘Yessum,’ Hutch said. Then looked at the sky, so pale and white, the sun itself could have been white. Rain began to patter against their coats and rucksacks.
‘Great.’
From the breast pocket of his coat, Hutch pulled out the plastic wallet with condensation on it. The map was sealed inside. He knelt down and removed the map from its sheath. He unfolded it by
one half and put the compass against it. ‘Chaps. I reckon we’re about here. A fair way inside the tip of this band of woodland. I was trying to get us down to here yesterday, so we can
pick up the Käppoape trail. A morning’s walk on that and we’d be beside the Stora Luleälven River. Following that east to Skaite for a few hours would put us by the overnight
cabins there. And a branch office for the Environment Protection Board. But we can’t make it any further south through the scrub here. This place is so old, if there was ever another path
going south out of this clearing, it’s gone now. And if the undergrowth doesn’t clear up, there is still the best part of a day between us and the end of the forest.’
‘So what?’ Dom said.
Hutch wrinkled his eyes and gritted his teeth in a wince. ‘Well, we can’t risk following that track north.’
Phil said nothing. He stood apart from them and stared at the house.
‘Hang on. Hang on. Gimme the map,’ Dom demanded.
Hutch pulled it away from Dom’s grasp. ‘What are you going to do with it hobble-horse?’
‘Let me see, you Yorkshire ring-piece.’ Dom snatched the map from Hutch’s hands and then held it a few feet from his face.
Luke hung his head and pulled his fingers down his cheeks. ‘Maybe we should go back the way we came in.’
Dom shook his head. ‘No. If we go back the way we came in, it’ll take a whole day just to get back to where we started from yesterday at noon.’
‘As long as we don’t get lost again,’ Luke said. No one else took him up on the observation. Hutch and Dom stared at each other with tense faces.
Dom’s jaw trembled. ‘And then another day to get back to the STF cabin we left two days ago!’
‘Agreed,’ Hutch said to Dom. ‘Or the same amount of time again to get to Porjus on your bad leg. So I think we should see where the track we used to get here goes, in the
opposite direction. Then see if we can cut down south from it at some point.’
Dom frowned. ‘Well, it ran from west to east in a straight line. It’ll take us straight back out west. What’s west?’
‘Norway,’ Luke said.
Dom slapped the map down against his thighs. ‘We need to get south, H, to come out on the other side of this blasted heath.’
‘You don’t say. But we can’t get through, dufus. There is no way we can move south from here. And we’ve enough food for one more day, tops. Considering how many calories
we’re going to be expending walking on this terrain today, we’ll need every crumb of it. For argument’s sake, if it takes us all day to get out, we’ll have to camp tonight
above the river. Tomorrow, on the outside of the blasted heath, our army will be marching on an empty stomach for about half a day. And that’s the worst-case scenario we are facing. So there
is no need to panic, but we have to make the right choice now. No indecision. I’m confident that if we
‘They can’t be that old,’ Luke said, leaning down beside Hutch.
‘No shit. But someone still knew how to use them after the Vikings.’
Luke placed an index finger on one. ‘Looks like a B. The trees get how old?’
‘This is a Scots pine. A big one too. Dead as a door nail, but they can live for about six hundred years.’
Dom threw both hands into the air, his waterproof swishing as he moved. ‘OK. OK. So what’s the plan, Time Team? I’d say runes on old bastard trees are at the bastard bottom on
our list of priorities, boys.’
Hutch and Luke moved away from the tree.
‘It’s all wrong,’ Phil said to himself. ‘Wrong.’
‘Yessum,’ Hutch said. Then looked at the sky, so pale and white, the sun itself could have been white. Rain began to patter against their coats and rucksacks.
‘Great.’
From the breast pocket of his coat, Hutch pulled out the plastic wallet with condensation on it. The map was sealed inside. He knelt down and removed the map from its sheath. He unfolded it by
one half and put the compass against it. ‘Chaps. I reckon we’re about here. A fair way inside the tip of this band of woodland. I was trying to get us down to here yesterday, so we can
pick up the Käppoape trail. A morning’s walk on that and we’d be beside the Stora Luleälven River. Following that east to Skaite for a few hours would put us by the overnight
cabins there. And a branch office for the Environment Protection Board. But we can’t make it any further south through the scrub here. This place is so old, if there was ever another path
going south out of this clearing, it’s gone now. And if the undergrowth doesn’t clear up, there is still the best part of a day between us and the end of the forest.’
‘So what?’ Dom said.
Hutch wrinkled his eyes and gritted his teeth in a wince. ‘Well, we can’t risk following that track north.’
Phil said nothing. He stood apart from them and stared at the house.
‘Hang on. Hang on. Gimme the map,’ Dom demanded.
Hutch pulled it away from Dom’s grasp. ‘What are you going to do with it hobble-horse?’
‘Let me see, you Yorkshire ring-piece.’ Dom snatched the map from Hutch’s hands and then held it a few feet from his face.
Luke hung his head and pulled his fingers down his cheeks. ‘Maybe we should go back the way we came in.’
Dom shook his head. ‘No. If we go back the way we came in, it’ll take a whole day just to get back to where we started from yesterday at noon.’
‘As long as we don’t get lost again,’ Luke said. No one else took him up on the observation. Hutch and Dom stared at each other with tense faces.
Dom’s jaw trembled. ‘And then another day to get back to the STF cabin we left two days ago!’
‘Agreed,’ Hutch said to Dom. ‘Or the same amount of time again to get to Porjus on your bad leg. So I think we should see where the track we used to get here goes, in the
opposite direction. Then see if we can cut down south from it at some point.’
Dom frowned. ‘Well, it ran from west to east in a straight line. It’ll take us straight back out west. What’s west?’
‘Norway,’ Luke said.
Dom slapped the map down against his thighs. ‘We need to get south, H, to come out on the other side of this blasted heath.’
‘You don’t say. But we can’t get through, dufus. There is no way we can move south from here. And we’ve enough food for one more day, tops. Considering how many calories
we’re going to be expending walking on this terrain today, we’ll need every crumb of it. For argument’s sake, if it takes us all day to get out, we’ll have to camp tonight
above the river. Tomorrow, on the outside of the blasted heath, our army will be marching on an empty stomach for about half a day. And that’s the worst-case scenario we are facing. So there
is no need to panic, but we have to make the right choice now. No indecision. I’m confident that if we
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