Fortunately - though the village gossips would have not seen it this way, perhaps - none of the residents were aware of the scuffle between a young girl and a unusually agile man on Briar Walk earlier in the evening, and were by now largely happily asleep, either on their sofas or in bed, and thus undisturbed by the helicopters flying overhead. For though three helicopters had indeed headed straight for Ramsey Island, a fourth diverged from the others, speeding into the depths of Lydgale Forest. Crewed by only two people, a man and a woman, it made a smooth landing in a suitably large clearing. The pilots dismounted quickly. They had done this before. Separating without a word, they walked in separate directions and melted into the night. Soon, they returned, this time together; and the success of their trip was contained in the large bundle that they toted between them. Movements were economic, precise; clearly there was no time to be wasted. Hunks of wood surely too heavy for one person to carry were lofted onto the woman’s shoulder with ease.
