We had awakened yesterday morning to find Eeriedale's Hill completely vacant.
Deserted. Abandoned. This became the topic of conversation during breakfast. The word "trap" kept echoing around me, mingling with the general chatter.
"What's your take, Boss?" Opal asked.
"The hill we struggled to take yesterday is suddenly vacant, and they suspect a trap? How distrustful," I replied.
"I meant, do you think you'll be commanded to take it anyway?"
"Oh."
I examined the hill in the morning glow: green, benign, dotted with a few shrubs on top, and only long grasses and some jagged grey stones on the ascent. The only evidence of yesterday's battle was the trampled grass. The hill seemed to be just waiting there, as if it were a person idly twiddling its thumbs. "Probably," I told Opal.
