AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's the weekend, and – you guessed it – I'm back! Thanks so much for bearing with me; I really appreciate your patience and your feedback!

Chapter 12

"Aravis!" cried Shen as she and her brother popped out from behind the tomb, at the same time as Shasta hollered, "Boo!"

That earned him three pronounced eyerolls – Shen was still too shocked at seeing the others, and Hwin simply too kind, to bother.

However, the glance Aravis gave Shen was one of pure, unmitigated relief. For a moment she looked as though she wanted to hug the older girl and even took half a step toward her, but instead turned and adjusted Hwin's bridle. Then she turned back to Shen. "Where on earth were you? When I went with Lasaraleen, I looked back for you, but I couldn't see you. Then I had her sent her servants after all of you, and they found Bree, Bren, and Hwin, but they couldn't find you. I had no idea where you'd gone!"

"Lasaraleen?" asked Shen and Shasta at the same time.

"My friend Lasaraleen Tarkheena," explained Aravis.

"Oh, the one you spent your summers with at Lake Mezreel?" I just went through two of the most terrifying days of my life, and I remembered that?

Aravis seemed just as surprised, but recovered quickly. "Yes, the very one. Right after the Narnians absconded with you, Shasta, her litter came through, and she saw me. She began making a completely exaggerated scene – " her grimace nearly made Shen giggle – "so I climbed into her litter to quiet her down, and I looked for you – " she nodded her head slightly at Shen – "but I couldn't see you, only the horses. She took me to her mansion, and I asked her to send servants to look for you right away, and – " here she paused and colored slightly as if deciding against some embarrassing thing she'd been about to say next – "anyway, they came back without you. I asked her to send them out again, and she agreed, but they still couldn't find you. And Lasaraleen wouldn't help me plan out a way to leave the city without my father finding out about it – he arrived there looking to seek me out a few days ago – until after the party she had to go to" (both siblings smiled as she rolled her eyes) "last night. So we planned it all out yesterday." She threw Shen an apologetic glance. "Lasaraleen sent out her servants again twice today, but they still couldn't find you. So she had her groom saddle Bree and Bren and Hwin – "

"A bit tightly, if you ask me," put in Bree with a snort.

" – and told him to take them here," went on Aravis, ignoring him entirely. "So then Lasaraleen and I left her house and took a shortcut through the old palace. It took us longer than we had intended because we first became lost and then very nearly collided with the Tisroc (may he live forever) – "

"You what?" exclaimed Shasta.

" – and Prince Rabadash and Ahoshta Tarkaan," continued Aravis.

"You met the Tisroc (may he live forever) and Prince Rabadash?" Shen gasped. "And Ahoshta Tarkaan? Isn't that the lord you were supposed to marry?"

"Yes, he is," Aravis answered, "and he was just made Grand Vizier due to the former Grand Vizier's recent death, which is why he was accompanying the Tisroc (may he live forever) and the prince. However, I did not actually meet any of them, thanks be to Tash. Lasaraleen and I managed to hide ourselves before they saw us, although unfortunately they chose the very room in which we were hiding for their council." She paused for a moment, but without interruption; Shen's and Shasta's eyes were wide as Tarkaans' goblets with shock. "The Narnian king and queen were in Tashbaan because Prince Rabadash had been courting the Queen Susan, who fled with her entire company in secret last night."

"We know," Shasta volunteered, producing a quizzical look from Aravis.

"It's a long story," Shen put in, nudging her brother in the arm with her elbow. "Please go on."

"Prince Rabadash was most provoked by the queen's actions," the Tarkheena continued, "and he proposed a scheme of revenge to the Tisroc (may he live forever), who eventually agreed."

"What – " Shasta began in alarm, but subsided after another elbowing from his sister.

"The prince is leaving Tashbaan this very night," went on Aravis, now speaking more rapidly, "with two hundred mounted warriors of the royal house. He plans to lead them across the desert to Archenland and capture Anvard, the castle of its ruler, King Lune. From there he will cross the mountains into Narnia, enter the rulers' castle of Cair Paravel, and seize Queen Susan once she arrives. He will then take her back to Tashbaan and force her to marry him. He believes that once he has her as hostage, along with the castle of Anvard, Narnia will be his for the taking."

Shen's mouth had gradually opened farther than she would have thought possible, so it fell to her brother to exclaim, "He's going to take Archenland tomorrow?"

"Yes," answered Aravis, her words uncharacteristically running together by this point, "and if someone doesn't get there first to warn them, he'll have Anvard and Narnia too!"

If someone doesn't get there first? If she just said what I think she just said…

"Treacherous hounds!" Bree neighed in outrage, stamping his front hooves on the hard sand one after the other. "An attack in time of peace, without defiance sent! But we'll grease his oats for him. We'll be there before he is."

We will? Shen finally opened her mouth, but too late, for Aravis was asking a similar question. "Can we?"

Even as she spoke, however, she was launching herself gracefully into Hwin's saddle.

Wait a minute. Wait just a minute! Didn't we all just prove how dangerous it is merely to journey to the northern countries? And now we're supposed to try and outrun the crown prince and a two-hundred-warrior cavalry?

"He said he was going to start at once," she vaguely heard Aravis saying.

"That's how humans talk," Bren replied. "But you don't get a company of two hundred horse and horsemen watered and victualed and armed and saddled and started all in a minute." She turned to Shen. "Are you ready?" she asked, her tone significantly less brisk this time.

Shen looked up to find five pairs of eyes returning her gaze. She noticed that Shasta had already climbed atop Bree. All right, don't ask me then. And don't act so surprised when whatever it is that can go horribly wrong does go wrong! Deciding against voicing her thoughts, she clumsily mounted Bren, who shifted in order to steady.

"Narnia and the north!" proclaimed Bree, which abruptly jarred Shen into full alertness.

"No!" she exclaimed, inciting alarmed stares from the others. "I mean, no – not directly north. We need to travel toward Mount Pire over there – " she pointed accordingly – "northwest, wasn't it, Shasta?"

"Oh, right." Shasta briefly looked chagrined at not having remembered the information he had heard firsthand from the Narnians. "Yeah – northwest."

Aravis shot them both a questioning stare, but Shen cut her brother off. "It's a long story."

"All the better to entertain us and keep you humans awake on the journey," said Bree. "And speaking of journeys: all that about galloping for a day and a night, like in stories, can't really be done. It must be walk and trot – but brisk trots and short walks. And whenever we walk, you three can slip off and walk too. Now – is everybody ready? Off we go. Narnia and the north!"

"Narnia and the northwest," echoed Bren slyly, causing Shen to break out in a brief fit of nervous giggles. Even Aravis almost smiled. Shasta merely rolled his eyes.

As the horses began the trip at a brisk trot, Shasta and Shen shared their individual stories with Aravis. Shasta, Shen thought, dwelt for a particularly long time on the details of the feast he had enjoyed in the Narnians' lodgings. He must be hungry again. That, or looking forward to being hungry for the next day or two. I suppose he's entitled, though; he's been growing faster than these horses can gallop lately. As for herself, she related her own adventures as briefly as possible, barely mentioning the large golden cat. Shasta, she noticed, had said nothing about the incident with the jackals, and she followed his lead. Aravis may have a bit of a sense of humor, but I doubt it will extend to a continued belief in our sanity if she thinks we're both hallucinating – and that's not even considering what she'd think of my willingness to follow a strange animal all over Tashbaan without any reason at all except that I was at my wits' end. Honestly, if I were in her place, I'd think I was crazy.

But Aravis did not seem to be thinking any such thing. She seemed much more interested in calculating the probable length of the Narnians' journey to Cair Paravel, with an eye toward figuring out how quickly they might be warned and whether or not there would be any time for them to come to Anvard's aid. "After all," she told Shen, who took a much greater interest in the subject than Shasta, "I do not know how well-manned the northerners keep their castles, nor how many soldiers Anvard is able to hold. If there are fewer than two hundred of them especially, they will likely require aid greater than any we can provide."

Shen, who knew nothing at all about battles or military strategy except for the stories she'd heard from the horses, conceded that point to Aravis. However, thanks in large to Hashim's basic but excellent tutelage, she did prove a quicker hand than the Tarkheena at calculating how long it would take them to reach Anvard, based on the speed at which the horses had traveled between Arsheesh's cottage and Tashbaan, as well as Sallowpad's guess at the journey's length and Aravis's estimate about the location of the castle. The two girls eventually agreed that it would take roughly two days to reach Anvard, but had more trouble when it came to guessing at the travel time between there and Cair Paravel. After much hemming and hawing, Aravis conceded that her best guess, based on her vague memories of the tiny bit of education she had received regarding the northern countries, was about a day.

"We have to remember, though," Shen pointed out, "that after two days' hard travel across the desert, we may not be able to go quite as fast on the third day."

Bree whinnied in protest at this. "Never underestimate the endurance of a war-bred Narnian horse," he told Shen a bit testily. "And if you humans can ride us half as well as we can carry you – which I must admit you are very capable of – we may well make the journey much more quickly than you expect."

Shen was speechless for a moment at the horse's unexpected compliment, which proved enough time for Aravis to cut in. "We will probably not be the ones making the journey from Anvard to Cair Paravel," she reminded Shen, "for King Lune will most undoubtedly cause one of his own couriers to bear the news instead. I am sure he would rather grant our horses a well-deserved rest and send a fresh mount or two of his own."

Shen nodded, conceding the point. "But suppose the Narnian party has not yet reached Cair Paravel when the news comes?"

Shasta, who with Bree was leading the party, turned to look back at the girls. "Oh, King Edmund and Queen Susan aren't the only rulers of Narnia. They have a brother whom they were calling the High King – I didn't catch his actual name, though – and a sister, Queen Lucy. Perhaps one or both of them will be there."

"The High King won't be," Aravis informed him. "And his name is Peter. According to Prince Rabadash, the king is out fighting giants in the north of his country. But perhaps Queen Lucy will be there."

"Let's hope so," Shen answered, and then, "And let's hope King Lune is in residence at Anvard before that." Why didn't I think of that before? These calculations contain far too many ifs and hopes. And did she say giants? Even if we do get to Narnia alive, what other creatures may we have to face in order to stay that way?

However, it was an entirely different thought that made its way out of her mouth as she addressed her brother. "Did this King Edmund or Queen Susan explain why Narnia has four rulers instead of only one, as we do? Doesn't even its neighbor Archenland has but one king?" And what other surprises about this country will be sprung on me before I get there – if ever?

Shasta shrugged. "No, they didn't talk about it. They did say their older brother is the High King, though."

Shen shook her head. "It still doesn't make any sense whatsoever. How can a country have more than ruler at a time? Is it a Narnian custom? And in any case, wouldn't Narnia run the risk of becoming divided and ruined, as Ancient Calormen was when the twin Tisroc brothers fought the great civil war?"

Aravis shot her a brief look of surprise, then shrugged as she thought better of whatever she had been about to say. After a brief pause, she took a slightly different tack. "According to Ahoshta Tarkaan, the previous ruler of Narnia was a lone sorceress, and all four siblings had equal hands in her defeat, so perhaps the Narnian people would have things no other way. And even the Tisroc (may he live forever) spoke of the eldest brother as High King and master of the other three."

"It's still strange," Shen muttered. Aravis and Shasta shrugged, but did not disagree with her.

After that, the discussion quickly subsided. Shen's joint calculations with Aravis had not included time for sleep, and she decided she would count on getting none, or very little, for the next two days. It's a good thing I slept as late today as I did. I can never do anything right or even think straight when I get insufficient sleep, so I suppose should consider myself very lucky if I fall off of Bren only ten times during this journey, rather than the fifteen I would have had I gotten less sleep last night. Riding is really just as tiring as cleaning Arsheesh's cottage – in fact, it's as bad as scouring his boat.

Soon enough, as the moon began to rise, the horses slowed, and the humans dismounted and walked, as Bree had instructed them to do. Most of the day's heat had evaporated from the sand, and Shen found it pleasantly cool – but not too cool – on the soles of her bare feet. Moreover, the ground's grainy texture muted the noise of the horses' hoofs to a soothing pwooth-pwook instead of the sharper cleck-cleck-clop that had become so annoying a few days previously on the streets of Tashbaan. It reminded Shen oddly of leading Arsheesh's donkey among the scattered buildings of the village back home. No, not home any more. Still – it's missing something. I don't quite know what, though.

However, the blessing of the muted sound proved a double-edged sword, for not only was it monotonous enough after its own fashion, but also, its very softness quickly lulled Shen into a lower level of consciousness of her surroundings and a slower walk. Bren had to nudge her many times between trots throughout the night that followed to make her pick up her speed. Eventually, Bree and Hwin had to do the same for Shasta and Aravis, whose pace also lagged with the waning of the night.

But eventually the night did end, as over behind the travelers and to their right the edge of the sky first lightened to dark gray, then changed to lighter gray, and finally began to glow a brilliant pink-orange, making it look as though some relay of invisible creatures had passed a torch through the veil of the fading night and lit the horizon on fire. Somewhere during the dawn-hour, Shen caught Shasta looking back the way they had come – of course he would, Shen, you idiot; if you can see the mountains miles and miles in front of you, it would technically stand to reason that you'd be able to see Tashbaan by now as well – and her head immediately turned to follow her brother's.

Perched seemingly at the southeastern edge of the earth, Tashbaan looked from Shen's distance like a tiny conglomeration of shadow-dwellings for rats – or even bugs, really; it's so small I can barely even see the dome at the top of the hill. Thank goodness the horses pushed us; we must have traveled two score miles at least.

From behind Shen's shoulder, Bren nudged her gently. The girl whipped her head around to discover herself already several strides behind the others. Blast it, Shen, if you keep on slowing the others up like this, you'll be the only one to blame if you all get to Archenland too late!

Panting, she hurried to catch up with her brother and Aravis. Not to mention that we'll probably need a good deal of extra time to persuade this King Lune to believe us. After all, even if he would listen to Shasta and me – highly unlikely, given the state we'll probably be in once we get there – why would the monarch of a northern country trust a Tarkheena? He'll probably think Aravis is a spy, and therefore that Shasta and I are spies too. And if he does, we would have done better just to stay in Calormen in the first place. She shivered, realizing as she did so that her body was reacting not just to her troubled thoughts, but also to the morning chill of the desert, which had completely lost all of the leftover heat that had made the early night hours so comfortable. I didn't know it got this cold in Calormen. Wait…are we technically even still in Calormen?

"Shasta," she began, but due to a long night without speech or water, her effort came out as a gravelly "Has-ah…" that her brother apparently had not even heard, for he did not turn his head to meet her gaze. After swallowing a couple of times, Shen tried again, this time with success.

"Huh?" Her brother's head whipped around as his body started in apparent surprise at hearing the sound of a voice after so many hours of silence. Or maybe he's just cold, like I am.

"Did the raven say exactly where we'd enter Archenland? I mean, is this whole desert still in Calormen?"

Shasta's eyes, already squinting in the growing morning light, narrowed even further as he considered his sister's question for a moment. "Yeah," he replied, then nodded after another moment before emitting a second, surer-sounding "Yeah. I know because I remember him saying the valley at the end of the desert would lead to the river, and once you got to the river you could 'ride the water' to Archenland."

"'Ride the water?'" Shen's answer, which came out more sharply than she had intended, caused Aravis to turn and stare at both siblings. "Did he mean we'd need a boat?"

Shasta's head shifted slightly backward; the question had obviously thrown him for a loop. "He never said anything about that. He just said 'ride the water.' Nobody in the room asked him about a boat. I just figured he meant we'd walk next to the river."

"You 'just figured?'" Again, Shen's reply took on a harsher edge than she'd intended, and Aravis's eyes yawned wide open. "Shasta, it's a bit – a bit more than a bit important to pay attention to directions about shortcuts like this, especially if it might not be a shortcut after all! It could be that this is a better route than the oasis only if you use a boat! If you'd been listening properly, we might have been better served by traveling through the oasis after all – "

" – and run the risk of being captured by the prince's regiment," Aravis finished for her, in a tone that Shen very reluctantly had to admit was merely practical rather than condescending. She also could not contradict the other girl's observation. In which case we'd have been best served by not coming at all, she barely restrained herself from shooting back. Instead, she merely bit her tongue, jerked her head in irritable assent, and quickly stalked past Aravis toward Mount Pire. Bren raised her eyebrows, but said nothing and pwecked after the girl. Shasta, Aravis, and the other horses quickly followed suit.

The mountain, however, did not seem to want to cooperate, for it steadily refused to grow any larger throughout the endless daylight hours that followed. Neither, Shen noticed to her acute frustration, would Tashbaan oblige their wishes by shrinking any more than it had over the course of the previous night. On top of this, the rising sun had quickly undertaken to heat the air and ground. At first Shen had no objection to this, since she had grown chilly during the night, but the temperature of the air around her soon passed from pleasant to uncomfortably warm. Bren clearly felt the heat as well; as she rode, Shen could feel the sweat beads forming on the horse's back beneath her hands. Then, as she dismounted, she gasped sharply in concert with her brother, who had slid off of Bree at the same time. The sand, which had been pleasantly warm during their most recent walking stint, now felt uncomfortably hot beneath her bare feet – and apparently, judging by his grimace, beneath Shasta's as well.

"All right?" Bren grunted softly into Shen's ear. The girl nodded shortly. Even if I'm not, I have to go on. I don't have a choice. She yawned widely, completing a process her mouth had grown increasingly fond of over the past several hours. And if I don't want to fall asleep and die in the middle of the desert, I definitely don't have a choice. Glancing ahead of her, she noticed Bree's head bent toward Shasta's; apparently, he had been making similar inquiries as to his rider's health. Shen quickly turned her head away from Bren and grimaced. And I think I'm having a difficult time. The horses have fur coats, and they haven't so much as flinched, let alone gotten mean with the others. Nice going, Shen.

But her throat, which had completely dried out by then despite everybody's occasional sips of water from the skins they kept in their saddlebags, was so parched that all she could manage to grind out was " 'Akes, 'En."

Yawning again, she diligently began trudging along behind her brother and Aravis, whose pace had slowed considerably in the wake of the sun's beating rays.

Come on, Shen, she urged herself as she stumbled over seemingly empty air a few minutes later. If the horses can keep a pace without stopping in this weather, you'll have to stay with them. Look at the sand on the ground, see? That dip over there right in front of the other one looks like the number eight, and the pattern next to them looks like the first letter of my name and Shasta's…and that ridge there almost forms a perfect "A" for Aravis…hmmm…

An hour or so later, another gentle nudge from Bren prompted Shen to mount the horse again – or try to, she thought ruefully as the resulting fall jarred her further awake and painfully reminded her limbs of the tumble she'd taken in Tashbaan two days before. Grunting in discomfort and disgust, she tried again, this time barely managing to haul herself up onto the horse's back. Fortunately Shasta and Aravis, who had both mounted their horses without any trouble and who had watched both of Shen's attempts, said nothing, merely waiting until Shen was ready before continuing onward into the endless expanse of golden brown.

The next time the horses stopped for a walk, no sooner had Shen's feet touched the ground – causing her already sore legs to ache even worse – than she emitted a stifled yelp of pain; she felt as though she'd just stuck them in the fireplace at Arsheesh's cottage. A few feet away from her, Shasta did the same.

"Sorry, Bree," he ground out, even as he yanked himself back up into the saddle. "Can't walk – burns my feet."

Bree tilted his head in weary acknowledgement. "Course," he replied. "Should have thought of that myself. Stay on – can't be helped."

"Up you go, Shen, it's all right," Bren echoed her brother, and Shen managed a few pats to the horse's neck as she re-mounted. Aravis, she noticed, had shown no such reaction to the sand's heat, and, after taking in the siblings' dilemma, had gracefully re-mounted Hwin without a word. Hwin made a point of inquiring after both Shen and Shasta, but Aravis, looking rather uncomfortable, merely grimaced in what Shen guessed was an attempt at concern before reining her horse around to continue onward. It must be nice to be able to afford shoes. Or, rather, have a father who is able to afford them.

Oh, come on, Shen. It's not her fault she has a rich, uppity father. She's not even complaining about our being unable to rest the horses.

It's still not fair. I bet her legs don't ache like mine do.

A couple of hours later, after Shen had yanked herself up in the saddle to avoid sleep for at least the hundredth time – or two hundredth, probably – she jolted upright, startled by her brother's raised voice. Jerking her head up, she saw him pointing toward a looming, lumpy formation rising about ten feet out of the ground. Can that be a rock? It can't be – it's too brown – oh, who cares, there's a shadow next to it!

The horses apparently were thinking the same thing, for they fairly ran to the nearby shade before gratefully collapsing against the oddly-shaped mound, which upon closer examination felt to Shen like a cross between a porous rock and a dirt wall. However, she did not ponder the question for long; digging food and water out of the saddlebags proved a much more attractive proposition, although forcing herself – not to mention the others – to refrain from consuming all of their provisions proved a greater challenge than she had anticipated. However, the argument proved a brief one, which was due to dry voices and lack of energy as much as to common sense.

To Bree's everlasting credit, he was the first one back on his feet, and nudged each of the others in turn to keep them from drifting into the sleep their bodies so desperately craved. Ugh, Shen forced her brain into enough coherence to mutter to herself as she clumsily mounted Bren. Does this desert end? Did that raven somehow guess that Shasta wasn't – oh, what was his name? Corin? – and say what he did to lure us to our deaths in this infernal oven?

Similarly panicked thoughts fueled Shen's mind for the next several hours, keeping her just awake enough to be all too keenly aware of her increasing thirst, irritability, and exhaustion – not to mention the sore limbs and the hammering headache that had returned with a vengeance from two day previously in Tashbaan. Which is still not shrinking at all. Ugh. And Mount Pire will not grow at all! It took nearly all the strength she had left to keep from snapping petulantly at every single one of the others for their audacity at even suggesting this obviously suicidal trip. Only her dry mouth and her will to ensure her brother's safety kept her silent. How many sandhills have I seen now that form the letter "S"? There's another one to add to the pile…Yes, "S" for "sapping my strength." Or how about "H" for "hopeless"? Ow! Bren, who had just tripped hard enough to jar Shen's entire body, which only worsened the headache, began to turn her head and whinny an apology, but Shen merely patted her neck a few times and murmured, "'S all right, Bren. 'O't 'orry about it." It's not your fault my head feels like Arsheesh is taking his heaviest plate to it. And it's certainly not your fault I feel like the air itself has been lit on fire.

But the fire gradually subsided as the sun began to set slightly to their left, and after an aborted effort or two, Shasta and Shen finally found themselves able to walk without burning their feet. Shasta, for once, stumbled where his sister did not, and Shen shot forward to grab his elbow and keep him from going down.

"You all right?" she managed to gasp. "'Ant to stop?"

In any other situation Shasta might have brushed his sister's arm away, rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Don't hover, Shen," but all he did at that moment was shrug, nod, and grunt, "You?"

Shen managed to tilt her badly hurting head in a faint gesture of assent – like that fooled him. Oh, well. She took a quick glance at Aravis, who was wiping her brow and rubbing her head – I guess I'm not the only one with the headache, after all – and exchanged a brief nod with her. Before plodding onward, she slowly twisted her head back toward Tashbaan, which had somehow managed to not only shrink, but nearly disappear. Not soon enough. May the gods grant I never see it again. She turned forward again. Hm. Mount Pire does seem a little larger than it did this morning.

Unfortunately, the lessening light meant that Shen could no longer keep herself awake by watching for shapes in the landscape ahead of her. Bren had to nudge her out of a half-asleep stupor several times, as did Bree for Shasta. Even Aravis stumbled a few times, and after a few such instances Shen noticed she could barely make out the younger girl's silhouette in front of her. She managed to communicate this, although rather hoarsely, and the Tarkheena gladly dropped back to decrease the distance between herself and Shasta, who with Bree trailed directly behind her.

"Shasta," ground out Shen several minutes later, "'ouldn't we be reaching the 'alley soon?"

Shasta nodded wearily. "Yeah," was all the reply he had any energy for, but he did slowly raise his head, signaling a renewed awareness, and Aravis and Shen both followed his lead.

Perhaps an hour later, there was still no sign of the valley, and Shen's head was throbbing worse than ever. Maybe we are going to die in the desert after all. If starvation doesn't do it to me, I'm sure my blasted head will explode anyway. Perhaps Shasta will get through, though. He's so much stronger than I am. Ow – she jolted as Bren slowed to a walk again, and Shasta and Aravis dismounted. After a few moments, they raised their heads again to stare around in the dark for any sign of their destination. So did Shen, but she tripped and would have fallen had not Aravis, who had slowed down so much that Bren and Shen had drawn nearly abreast of her, grabbed her and held her up by the elbow.

"'Anks – " Shen began, but before she could add "Aravis," she gasped, sucking a couple breaths' worth of desert air into her already parched throat and lungs. That's no shape in the sand. That's a definite tilt – isn't it?

"'Ere it is!" she gasped, flinging her right hand outward to indicate the indentation in the ground and nearly toppling over again in the process.