It was a cool, misty morning, and Lucy and Eden were riding their ponies in the fells. Lucy had a sheep slung over Gwen's withers, because they had encountered Togi's son Mordon, who asked them to take it further down the fells to his father.

"I am beholden to you, princesses," he had said, slowly and formally. "She is hurt, my father will mend her. You do a good thing this day by taking her down, it is too far for me to carry."

Lucy gently touched the sheep to comfort her, and she bleated pitifully. Poor sheep. It must be uncomfortable to ride a horse when you were hurt. They would take her to Togi as slowly as they could, so as not to bump her. Lucy tried to communicate all this to the sheep as well as she could, but didn't think the animal was really taking it in.

"Let's pretend that the sheep is an enchantingly lovely baroness that we rescued when her carriage overturned," Lucy suggested. "And when we bring her safely home to her country mansion, she will reward us handsomely."

"No, let's pretend it's a foolish old duchess that we've kidnapped for ransom," Eden said enthusiastically. "It looks much more like an old duchess than a lovely baroness."

Just then the sheep gave a particularly hysterical sounding bleat, and Lucy was forced to admit the sheep played the role of a foolish duchess much better. She imagined her as a fretful old lady, huddled into her woollen rug, pleading with them not to hurt her again.

"Alright," Lucy agreed. "But we will treat the old lady with all gentility, for she has suffered a great shock and a hurt. Besides, we won't get any money from her grieving family if she's too far gone."

It was a quiet ride to the shepherd's hut, for Lucy was treating the old duchess with the gentility she deserved, and Eden didn't want to say anything which might provide information that the old duchess could use against them. Lucy whispered a few comforting words to the duchess, while Eden occasionally hissed threats against her unless she did exactly as she was told.

Lucy reflected to herself that she hadn't written very many chapters of her book about Princess Lucinda since she arrived in the Lakelands. It was a strange thing, but when she had been at home, with nothing much to do, she had been able to think of stirring adventures as easy as blinking, but now that she was having her own adventures on the lake every day, her imagination seemed to have dried up.

Lucy was aware of feeling disloyal to her creation, because she was growing slightly bored with Princess Lucinda. She never seemed to do anything ordinary, or even make friends with people, and when Lucy reread her own writing, she had an uncomfortable feeling it was rather childish.

These thoughts made Lucy silent company, and both the kidnappers were glad to arrive at the shepherd's hut. Here Togi, unconsciously playing the role of the duchess' family, was able to take the sheep, with both girls helping him.

"Joluch, maelles," he said graciously. "Mi gul lana nan." (Thank you, princesses. I will make her healthy now).

"There, that was a good deed," Lucy said, as they rode their ponies the rest of the way down the fells at a jogging pace. "The sheep is all tucked up in a nice straw bed, and Togi's put a bandage on her and given her a nice red drink."

"The mist is starting to rise," Eden commented, feeling a twinge of envy at how well Lucy could ride bareback, even trotting downhill. "We might go out on the lake a bit later."

Lucy looked at the sunlight shining through the mist, turning it to pearl and gold. Avalon Water was clearly visible now, the water changing from steel grey to deep clear blue as mist and cloud gave way to sunshine.

"Do you want to play bandits?" Lucy asked. "You never did tie me up so I could escape."

"No, I'm tired of bandits now," Eden said.

"What shall we play instead?" Lucy asked, turning to look at her.

"Pirates!" Eden said, with a fierce grin.