V
Thereafter, the threatening Cloud was never out of their sight. At times it hung low above them, at times its cold fingers touched them; and in the intervals it rode high above their heads, distant, but relentless.
His dream was a constant apprehension; he kept a persistent vigil against The Threat, even while his heart told him it was a hopeless one.
When the Cloud hung low above them, he cast his arms about Anne and the child until the mists lifted again. Once, when this happened, and when they started forward once more, he found that not one boy-child, but two walked between Anne and him. Their hands were clasped, and Anne held the hand of one, and he of the other, so that they four went forward together, each helping each.
Their path was rocky and beset. The Threat never left them; and stones rose to trip them, and thorny bushes clutched at them from either side....