Late afternoon light painted the dark grey rock cliffs of upper Hushwood in deep amber and burnt copper. The wind off the subalpine crest was turning sharp with the promise of evening frost, rustling the stunted spruce boughs that clung to the rocky ledges.
Kezra Venn knelt beside the two-wheeled handcart on the bare upkeep yard. She laid out her iron stone-chisel and horn-headed mallet on a piece of clean oiled canvas.
Beside her, Fellis Dain unclasped the leather strap of the expedition’s ordinary field ledger. He flipped the pages back through their journey, pausing at the entry inked three days earlier on Day 68 at the southern forest margin.
He pointed with a grease-stained thumb to the prominent note penned in bold red chalk across the top margin:
Hushwood Margin Charcoal Hearth (#20) — Retire By Day 71 Sunset.
“The sun is touching the western ridge, Kezra,” Fellis said quietly, his voice serious and unrushed. “That southern hearth down at the margin has served its turn. We’re four leagues north of it, climbing into rock country. Its thirty-day sign-off window will expire while we’re deep inside the Needlehouse galleries or crossing the Alderfast plateau. If we keep it open, we’ll be holding an active address that we can’t physically reach without three days of hard marching.”
