He went back to Thunder and mounted up again. "Egg, get on back to Standfast with the wine. I'm going to see what's happened to the water".

"Streams dry up all the time", said Bennis.

"I just want to have a look-"

"Like how you looked under that rock? Shouldn't go turning over rocks, Lunk. Never know what might crawl out. We got us nice straw pallets back at Standfast. There's eggs more days than not, and not much to do but listen to Ser Useless go on about how great he used to be. Leave it be, I say. The stream went dry, that's all".

Dunk was nothing if not stubborn. "Ser Eustace is waiting on his wine", he told Egg. "Tell him where I went".

"I will, ser". Egg gave a tug on Maester's lead. The mule twitched his ears, but started off again at once. He wants to get those wine casks off his back. Dunk could not blame him.

The stream flowed north and east when it was flowing, so he turned Thunder south and west. He had not ridden a dozen yards before Bennis caught him. "I best come see you don't get hanged". He pushed a fresh sourleaf into his mouth. "Past that clump o' sandwillows, the whole right bank is spider land".

"I'll stay on our side". Dunk wanted no trouble with the Lady of the Coldmoat. At Standfast you heard ill things of her. The Red Widow, she was called, for the husbands she had put into the ground. Old Sam Stoops said she was a witch, a poisoner, and worse. Two years ago she had sent her knights across the stream to seize an Osgrey man for stealing sheep. "When m'lord rode to Coldmoat to demand him back, he was told to look for him at the bottom of the moat", Sam had said. "She'd sewn poor Dake in a bag o' rocks and sunk him. 'Twas after that Ser Eustace took Ser Bennis into service, to keep them spiders off his lands".