Crow looked first left and then right, trying to determine which direction was the true way back. If he remembered correctly, he had run east when he left the village. The river flowed north so, unless they looped around somewhere, the left stream went south and the right stream went further east. The thief glanced curiously at Penelope as she chose the branch on the right—the one that would take them away from the village. She must have been too focused on chasing him at the time to pay close attention to the direction they had gone.

He shifted his weight, contemplating whether or not he should correct the knight. On one hand, it would be entertaining to wait until they were hopelessly lost and then make her beg him to find the way back; but on the other hand, he was cold and exhausted from their plunge in the river, and he wasn’t sure if he had the energy to walk for much longer. Right now, a nice, soft wooden floor at the inn sounded heavenly. He made his choice.

“Sorry to say, love, but you’re wrong,” Crow yawned and pointed at the left stream. “We’re northeast of the village, so this river will take us back down south. If we go right, we’ll just end up farther east.” He tilted his head slightly at the knight, an amused smile playing on his lip. “Of course, I could be lying. I might be trying to lead you deeper into in the woods where it will be easier for me to get away.” Crow shrugged nonchalantly. He [i]did[/i] want to get back to the inn, but he just couldn’t help himself. It was too much fun to toy with Penelope. “It seems like you’ll just have to trust me, now won’t you?”