Chapter 173

• I soon grew tired of the farce, went back to my tent and laid on my bedroll. I stayed awake until I heard Willi and Gretchen preparing for bed. My accustomed four hours of sleep would pass soon and the remainder of the night, I would sit and stand vigil.
• I woke in the still of the night, concentrating on whether I had alerted to some peril. After a few minutes, I rose to take stock. Everything was quiet, our fire had died down, so I got up and checked on the livestock while my eyes were better suited for night vision. Everything was well, so I went back to the campfire and built up for breakfast.
• The aroma woke Willi, and blinking awake, he began preparing for his tasks. Gretchen soon followed, stretching awake and smiling at me as I pulled the hot biscuits from the skillet into my hands, which caused me to flip them from hand to hand due to their heat causing me pain, until I dropped them on the plate. I tried to softly curse which caused Gretchen to chuckle.