### 232

Reluctantly the lurker steps into the shaft of light that streams through the open hatch. A hunchbacked old man dressed in rags, he has thin, grey hair and a wrinkled face that bears the marks of a lifetime’s poverty. Two eyes, clouded with cataracts, stare fearfully at you. You take hold of his scrawny arms and haul him out of the cellar with ease, for he weighs no more than a young child. You ask his name, but he does not reply. Instead he hobbles around the hut, running his withered hands lightly over his meagre belongings and mumbling incoherently under his breath. He stops at the door and inclines his head towards you.

‘Are you and your friend outside lost?’ he asks in a thin and squeaky voice. ‘I know a short cut to Tahou. Would you like me to show you?’

If you wish to take up the old man’s offer of help, turn to 299.

If you choose to decline his help, you leave the hut and continue; turn to 123.