The first route team reached the inland ford at sunrise. The river ran clear but fast where it narrowed between two shelves of stone. Pell tied a weighted rope to a post and lowered it into the current while two guards watched the line.
“Three feet at the center,” he called. “Less on the north side.”
The rope pulled hard downstream. A route guard walked the bank and tested the stones with a staff. One patch gave way under his weight, so Pell marked it with a strip of pale cloth and tested the next step.
Yan followed the team on foot. He crossed to the far bank and looked back at the markers. The pale cloth showed from both sides, but one strip disappeared against the white water.
“Move that one to the dark stone,” Yan said. “Drivers won’t see it from the cart seat.”
Pell shifted the marker and raised it higher. “Better?”
“Yes. The cart can follow the line now.”
Wei arrived with the first supply drivers. A man named Hu stepped from his cart and looked at the ford, then at the longer trail behind them.
