Jezer had guessed right. Indeed, there were checkpoints where hitherto there had been none. But they were easily spotted and the terrain was such that we had no trouble screening our passage around them.
Reuben took the extra precaution of sending scouts forward to locate any lone sentinels positioned as lookouts. Thankfully there were none.
All these extra exertions were very taxing and slowed our progress as half the time we were headed away from our goal. This frustration we took in stride and made us the more thankful for Jezer’s thoughtfulness in supplying each of us with a water skin.
As we went along Elijah and I discussed with Reuben the things he should know about our mutual future.