He looked at his watch. It showed ten minutes to nine! It was morning. Would Yamen and Tooku, Beowald and the villagers have arrived at the temple-cave yet, and meet the robbers on their way? Jack could not imagine what would happen. He woke the others and told them what he had seen.
“The thing to do now is to get along as quickly as we can, and find out where Ranni and Pilescu are,” he said. “The robbers have gone in the opposite direction. Come on, I saw where they came from. It’s plain they follow the river.”
The boys shook off the warm rugs. Jack flashed his torch round the comfortable recess to make sure they had left nothing behind. The light fell on a tiny shelf at the back. In it was something wrapped in a cloth. Jack unwrapped it in curiosity. Inside was a big Baronian loaf, crusty and stale.
“We’d better soak it in water and eat some,” said Jack, pleased. “I’m hungry enough to enjoy bread and water, even if you two aren’t! I suppose the robbers leave bread here to help themselves to when they rest in these rugs.”
When they pulled off the crust of the big loaf they found that the bread was not too hard to eat after all. They did not even need to soak it in water. Paul, as usual, had a big packet of the honey-flavoured Baronian chocolate with him, and the three boys thoroughly enjoyed their strange meal beside the rushing mountain river.
There was a flattish sort of cup on the little shelf where they had found the bread, and the boys dipped this into the clear river water and drank. It was as cold as ice, and tasted delicious.
Jack bent down to fill the cup again and something caught his eye, as he flashed his torch round. He stopped and gave a surprised exclamation.
“Whatever’s that? Look — that thing over there?”
The others looked. Tied by a leather thong to a jutting rock was what looked like a hollowed-out raft. It was broad and flat, with a hollow in the middle. The sides were strengthened with strip upon strip of leather, bound tightly over the edges.
“It’s a raft-boat, or boat-raft, whatever you like to call it!” said Mike, surprised. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Isn’t it odd? What’s it for?”