'Waiting,' said the dwarf grimly.
'It'll be getting dark soon.'
'We won't be here long,' said Hwel.
Eventually Nanny Ogg gave up and came out from behind her rock.
'It's salt pork, understand?' said Hwel sharply. 'Take it or leave it, okay? Now – which way's Lancre?'
'Keep on, left at the ravine, then you pick up the track that leads to a bridge, you can't miss it,' said Nanny promptly.
Hwel grabbed the reins. 'You forgot about the lawks.'
'Bugger. Sorry. Lawks.'
'And you're a humble old wood gatherer, I expect,' Hwel went on.
'Spot on, lad,' said Nanny cheerfully. 'Just about to make a start, as a matter of fact.'
Tomjon nudged the dwarf.
'You forgot about the river,' he said. Hwel glared at him.
'Oh yes,' he muttered, 'and can you wait here while we go and find a river.'
'To help you across,' said Tomjon carefully.
Nanny Ogg gave him a bright smile. 'There's a perfectly good bridge,' she said. 'But I wouldn't say no to a lift. Move over.'
To Hwel's irritation Nanny Ogg hitched up her skirts and scrambled on to the board, inserting herself between Tomjon and the dwarf and then twisting like an oyster knife until she occupied half the seat.
'You mentioned salt pork,' she said. 'There wouldn't be any mustard, would there?'
'No,' said Hwel sullenly.
'Can't abide salt pork without condiments,' said Nanny conversationally. 'But pass it over, anyway.' Wimsloe wordlessly handed over the basket holding the troupe's supper. Nanny lifted the lid and gave it a critical assessment.
'That cheese in there is a bit off,' she said. 'It needs eating up quick. What's in the leather bottle?'
'Beer,' said Tomjon, a fraction of a second before Hwel had the presence of mind to say, 'Water.'
'Pretty weak stuff,' said Nanny, eventually. She fumbled in her apron pocket for her tobacco pouch.
'Has anyone got a light?' she inquired.
A couple of actors produced bundles of matches. Nanny nodded, and put the pouch away.
'Good,' she said. 'Now, has anyone got any tobacco?'
Half an hour later the lattys rattled over the Lancre Bridge, across some of the outlying farmlands, and through the forests that made up most of the kingdom.
'This is it?' said Tomjon.
'Well, not all of it,' said Nanny, who had been expecting rather more enthusiasm. 'There's lots more of it behind the mountains over there. But this is the flat bit.'
'You call this flat?'
'Flattish,' Nanny conceded. 'But the air's good. That's the palace up there, offering outstanding views of the surrounding countryside.'