Bert woke first, with a great gasp of air, and reached automatically for his slingshot. The second it took him to realise it wasn't there, and to locate it on the table nearby, was just long enough for him to come the rest of the way to his senses.

He looked around, wide-eyed; saw Alain beside him and a stranger in the chair; saw a building that wasn't a building, in mists that hid the horizon. And, really, there was only one conclusion.

"...Some poor excuse for a Clearing. Where's Jamie?"