Through the haze and daze, I am dimly aware of Summer Isle escorting me to the back of the inn and leaving me in the care of the owner, a feisty old woman who could be the original sea hag herself. I sink down at a table, too weary to stand, while she babbles away at me. I can scarcely hear her voice above the noise of the inn, but what she is saying makes no sense to me between the heavily accented local dialect and the fact that she has no teeth. She pulls gently but insistently on my arm but I cannot rise from the bench. The room is whirling around us. My heavy head starts to droop and I don't care if I pass out right here in the middle of everything.

As if from a long distance away, I suddenly hear a familiar voice asking me a thousand questions. Valeria? I must be dreaming. Then I feel her shaking my shoulders, trying to rouse me.

"Am I dreaming?" I sigh.

The innkeeper shuffles away, leaving me with my long lost friend. We hug each other and I start to cry.

Between hiccups and coughing back tears, I tell Valeria what I know, which isn't much.

"Holly and Ruaidri must have got lost! Keu almost caught up with us in Cill Dara and we all had to leave quickly. They must have taken a different road. And I haven't seen any signs of Conall. I think he's forgotten me. Summer Isle and I only just arrived here. He introduced me to the Rian and the Red Poets, and everything was going well until a strange looking harper with blue tattoos appeared and even though he showed no metal, everyone had their weapons out! The Rian accused him of being a traitor but she also addressed him as Keeper of the Ford. The Red Poets took him away, probably to hang him or cut off his head or I don't know what! Summer Isle knew him by name - Amlaidh, he called him - and said that because this ferryman or traitor or harper once saved his life, he owed him the return of the favor. He left me here and went after them. Oh, Valeria, I don't know if we'll ever see Summer Isle alive again!" I howl out the last sentence, giving way to a fresh outburst of sobbing.

"Amlaidh. So!" Valeria says softly as she reaches out to console me.

"You know him too?" I sniffle.

She looks at the floor and doesn't answer. Instead she puts an arm around me and together we somehow stand up. "You need to rest. Let's find the innkeeper again and get a place to sleep. Summer Isle can take care of himself, don't worry! Tomorrow, when you feel better..."

Valeria's face ripples before my eyes, as though she is looking at me through the flowing waters of the Boinne. "I'm so glad you are here," I stammer hoarsely, leaning on her arm. "I'm sorry-" Then everything goes black.