Crow listened quietly as Penelope gave him details about the other patrols from her camp, focusing intently so that he would be able to remember and reiterate the information to Jaxon when he met up with the thief again. It was fortunate for him that Penelope had been directly involved in the planning of where the other knights would be sent. Now, he knew exactly where a third of the patrols were located, and had a decent idea of where the rest had ended up. It would be a thorough report when he eventually made his way back to Jaxon.

He was just beginning to gain some hope in the situation as Penelope explained that all of the patrols were nowhere near Wheldrake nor the actual location of the thieves’ camp. However, his hope was quickly dashed when she added that she had told her baroness about Jaxon and his band. His lip twitched slightly as he stifled a worried frown. Now that Penelope’s superior knew who the real target was, his job to keep the knights away from their camp was going to be quite a bit harder to pull off. He hoped that the baroness would dismiss Penelope’s lead once they turned up with nothing after examining Wheldrake.

“Good job,” he returned her smile with a forced grin of his own. “Between our group’s efforts and your baroness’s influence, I’m sure we’ll be able to catch these murderers in no time.” [i]Or Jaxon will think I betrayed him and everything will go straight to hell,[/i] he added with silent pessimism.

“Hey,” Olivia called suddenly to Gavin. “I’m tired. Let’s take a break for lunch.”

“We’re not even halfway there yet,” Gavin peered over his shoulder. “Surely you can make it that far before we stop.”

“But I want to stop now,” she whined obnoxiously. “There’s a perfect little clearing right up ahead. Let’s rest there.”

“I second that,” Alistair pitched in his support.

Rikki casted a furtive glance towards Crow before she raised one hand, “Me too.”

Not catching the look she had sent his way, Crow turned towards Gavin in amusement. “Looks like we’re stopping after all,” he said, using the same tone of voice the knight had often used against him whenever he won an argument.