The next day was spent crossing the marshes on foot. Susan had insisted that they went on foot for two reasons. First, it would give Dalton and Piper a chance to recuperate from running most of the day before. And second, she was certain that they would have no trouble keeping up with Peter and his party. Near the end of the day, Camille was relieved to find that she could see the end of the marshes as a line of trees up ahead.

Stopping shortly after the trees came into view, Susan spoke to Camille, "I guess we can stop here for the night. After all, I don't mean to join Peter any time soon."

"So we are going to join Peter?" Camille asked, a little confused, "When exactly are we going to do that?"

Taking out her bow and arrows and slinging them over her shoulder, Susan replied, "I was thinking we would once we had passed the giants in the southern lands of Ettinsmoor. Chances are he and I will have an argument when we meet, and I suspect that our shouting would be more than enough to draw the attention of a giant." Taking an arrow and fitting it to her bow, she asked, "Now, would you like to learn how to shoot?"

"Why? I don't have my own bow and arrows, unless you intend on giving yours to me for some absurd reason."

Susan smirked, "You never know what could happen, and it's better to be safe than sorry."

For a moment, Camille didn't know what to say. Then, she grinned at her sarcastically, "If you say so, mum."

Then, with a slight shake of her head, Susan proceeded to demonstrate how to nock an arrow properly. Susan's instruction continued until it was too dark to see anything well enough to aim at. Although, Camille was beginning to wonder if she would have a better chance of hitting something in the dark by the time they finished for the night.

By the time they reached the trees the next day, Camille and Susan stopped to allow Dalton and Piper to graze on the fresh grass. However, the Horses hurried back to where they sat among the trees, their eyes wide, only a minute later. With remarkable speed, both Camille and Susan rose to their feet. It was Dalton that explained, "We spotted a faun approaching from the south; if we wait too much longer he will be upon us."

Without a word, Susan strode over to Dalton's side and pulled herself up into the saddle. "Stay here," Susan said, looking from Piper to Camille. Then Dalton swiftly carried Susan out of sight.

In their absence, Camille took her place with her back against the tree again. Piper, on the other hand, simply stood in the same spot, her head turned so that Camille could only see one of her large eyes. Of course, Camille knew the faun was Gareth. Susan had said that he would follow them, after all, and Camille could only assume it was true. She wondered what Susan would do – if she would go and greet Gareth or if she would come back and insist they keep moving.

Whatever she did, Camille hoped that she would hurry. It wasn't particularly exciting – standing around with Piper, playing with the end of her long braid, searching their surroundings for signs of anything out of the ordinary, being frightened with every unusual sound the animals made in the trees – and it gave her the opportunity to let her thoughts wander. For the last few days, Camille had been in constant company and had found herself talking or helping Susan in tracking and keeping an eye over her shoulder when she could spare one, but now she was alone with a Horse that wasn't speaking to her. And, of course, being alone with little to do other than wait and listen gave her time to be alone with her thoughts.

It surprised her how quickly her thoughts turned to Peter and his search party. Not that Camille hadn't been thinking about him when she was busy, it was just easier to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Now she couldn't seem to direct her thoughts away from him.

First and foremost, Camille wondered if he was okay. Then she found herself wondering where he was, if he was still in this ominous stretch of forest or if he was already passing through the territory of the giants. The thought made her shudder involuntarily against the tree, pushing her away from it, and she tried to busy herself by pulling the flute out of its cloth case.

Unfortunately, not even the feel of it humming in her hands distracted her from the feeling in her stomach. Closing her eyes, Camille concentrated on the cool metal between her fingers and wondered what would happen when she finally decided to use it, and why it felt almost alive in her grip. Slowly, the shift of her focus settled her stomach and put her at ease.

The sound of Dalton's hooves beating the ground brought Camille out of her reverie and – with her eyes opened again – she quickly slipped Finis back into the slender case before throwing it over her shoulder. Maybe a moment later, Susan and Dalton appeared with Gareth not far behind them.

As they came closer, Susan sliding off Dalton's back in the process, Camille considered smiling at Gareth in greeting. However, the most she could manage was a very awkward grimace. Gareth either didn't notice or pretended he didn't as he greeted her.

"If I'm banished for letting you go, Camille, I will never forgive you." He said as he came to a stop in front of her.

Embarrassed, Camille shifted her eyes to her toes and quickly muttered, "I'm sorry."

To her surprise, the faun laughed briefly. And she looked up from the ground to see him smiling at her.

"I was only joking," he said, the smile still on his face, "Cheer up – we'll be looking upon giants soon enough."

Looking from Gareth to Susan, who was busy attending to the Horses, Camille gulped at the thought of facing giants. "How soon, exactly?"

"Well," Gareth started thoughtfully, "Did you see that gorge over there?" He asked this while pointing off to the left.

Camille had seen the gorge earlier. In fact, she had been staring at it earlier while Susan was gone. She nodded in reply, hoping Gareth wouldn't say what he was about to say.

"Well, the giants live along the side of it, so we'll be seeing them within the hour…"

Turning her gaze away from Gareth, Camille looked over her shoulder at the gorge. She could make it out rather well from between the trees, and now she understood that she would not be traveling through the forest. Instead, they would be traveling through the giants' home with very little camouflage to hide in. The thought made her stomach turn cold and, for a moment, Camille considered abandoning this quest and returning to the safety of Cair Paravel. However, as she stood there staring at the gorge, she remembered Peter and realized that he was already in the presence of the giants.

Then she realized how much she longed to see him again, and knew that she couldn't just turn around and wait safely in Cair Paravel when he could be in danger.

And, with that thought, she made her decision.

"We can still turn back," Gareth said quietly, so that only Camille could hear, "If that's what you want."

Shaking her head, Camille faced him again, "No, the only thing worse than going forward would be going back."

Author's Note: Well, it has certainly been a while, hasn't it? I am sorry about the delay, as always. Anyway, please review… Or maybe I'll stop updating altogether… mwahahahaha… Just kidding, a little bit. But, seriously, please review haha. I will try to respond to reviews in a more timely fashion from now on, just saying :)