### 55

Shafts of sunlight break through the slate-grey cloud, and the rain eases off and finally stops. You ride across the rolling valley floor towards the River Phoen until the track stops at a ramshackle house perched precariously on the river bank. An old wooden jetty juts out from the side of the house, its platform almost submerged in the rain-swollen river. A notice board standing in front of the house reads:

Ferry House Landing

Passenger barges to Tharro—embark from this jetty.
Barges to Phoena—embark from opposite bank.

No cattle, wagons, caravans, or herd animals unless by special arrangement.

If you wish to wait here for a barge to Tharro, turn to 299.

If you wish to investigate the Ferry House, turn to 130.