Okay. I'll throw some out then :P

Idea 1: They choose the wrong river to follow and, instead of getting back to the village, stumble upon the camp of those nobles who have been following them. They wouldn't get into a fight, but they would find out that they were still being tailed.

Idea 2: They choose the wrong river to follow and run into some more bandits (the typical "I got nothing" plan XD)

Idea 3: They choose the right river to follow but they have to cross over the water at some point in order to get back to the village. Not being a strong swimmer, Crow would be completely against the idea and Penelope would have to find a way to get him to do it

So we could do one or more of these if you're interested :3