On the Far Side of the Mountain

As much as Sam wants to look for Frightful, whom he now knows was stolen, he acknowledges that he must first find Alice and ensure her safety. When Sam reaches Alice’s camp but finds no one there, he begins to worry. He finds a note that he previously missed, in which Alice explains that she saw the falconers and headed for the Helderberg Escarpment once they left. Sam is relieved to hear that Alice is safe and decides to go to Beaver Corners to find Frightful before the false Leon Lionbridge can sell her to Skri. As he makes his way down the falls and along the river, Sam sees the coyote and one of her pups floating dead in the water and surmises that the falconers must have taken their revenge on the coyote that killed their hawk.

Sam hurries into town and learns that Bando and a conservation officer, Sean Conklin, have already left for Beaver Corners. He quickly begins the 12-mile journey to Beaver Corners, walking by the light of a full moon. On the way, Sam pauses to read a historical marker about an Anti-Rent War between the Van Rensselaers and tenant farmers and later discovers a stack of stones by an old water mill: a sign from Alice indicating that she also passed by the mill.