They travelled at a brisk pace, the men obviously nervous and eager for the distance be travelled as quickly as the horses could be pushed. As her eyes got use to the twilight, Audrey found she was in a different world. The trees were much taller than they were in the copses on the Estate or any of the woods she had seen before. Everything had a gentle cool green shadow over it, and leaves drifted down from above every so often, still green but edged with brown from the creeping autumn.<br/><br/>The air was loamy and crisp, the decomposing leaves overwhelming every other scent, though it wasn’t an offensive aroma. The sounds changed here, too – more birds chattering and crashing through the treetops, squirrels bounding up and down, deer darting away in the distance. She even saw a wild boar.<br/><br/>Towards the centre of the forest, the road became uneven, potholes dug by the brigands to slow their prey. It worked, the coachman was forced to slow, but there was no sign of a hold up.<br/><br/>After they had made it past the worst of the road, they travelled swifter than ever, wanting to be gone. It took a little less than two hours to pass through the forest. They emerged and Norris gave a brief report of the road to the roadguard. They then had to change horses again and leave the dogs to be retrieved on the way back. They rested briefly for another pint of beer before continuing at a calmer pace.<br/>