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	Other villagers came into view as Jack moved from the bridge. Two children appeared from behind the grass roofed living quarters next to the stable, maybe eight years of age, a boy and a girl playing some unfamiliar game involving a stick with a ball attached to its end. They stopped playing when they saw Jack, both of them standing still as if mesmerised, the boys mesmerisation was mixed with distrust, the girls with mocking amusement. By the shift of her eyes to glance past Jack, she must have known what was coming – 

‘You there! Stand!’ 

Jack stopped abruptly, stood for a moment as commanded, and then turned to see the speaker was a town guard. The guard had stepped out from behind a tree that loomed by the gate of the mill. 

‘I [i]am[/i] standing,’ said Jack, and heard the young girl snicker behind him. He then heard both children scamper off, likely to find a new, safer place to play.