"According to my map, I would say we are indeed about half way there. Still, we should be on our guard. Who knows what we will see next! A talking scarecrow!? With a mockingly-fed-up tone she proclaims, "Bah, the world has been ruined in our absence!"

The older woman walks over to Jeanne. Gertrude rests her hand on the younger woman's shoulder and says, "Please, call me Gertrude. I've never been one for pretentious, stuck up titles. I was born and raised in a tavern." Her lip quivers slightly as the happy memories of her life before... The sleep... Flood her mind, followed quickly by the realization that it has been forty years... She's missed so much - courtships, weddings, births... She's missed the entire lives of her grandchildren and, knowing her progeny, great-grand kids... Gertrude looks away from the cleric and whisks a tear away from her eye. "We need to head out. I don't trust that bear. He could come back at any moment.."