The Stance House

On the second evening out of Stannock the factor’s lead man came to the fire and asked Corin which road they would take in the morning, and Corin told him before the man had finished asking.

“The coast. The hill road’s shorter and there’s a bog on it at the second mile that’ll have two horses to the girth after this weather. The coast’s half a day longer and nobody drowns on it.” He turned the stick in the fire. “You’ll get the rest of the reasons after.”

The lead man nodded and went back to the horses. He had not wanted the reasons. Nobody on a wool train ever wanted the reasons; they wanted to be told, and to be told by a man who had been across and been held.

Corin sat with the stick in his hand and heard what he had said.

He had said it…