Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps on the hillside above him. He shouted, and a voice answered him in Welsh. From out of the mist came an old man with a huge dog by his side. Although the man was old, he stood straight and tall. He wore a heavy cloak of dark cloth that came down to his ankles. He wore no hat and his hair was long and white. His big red face shone with kindness.
The old man spoke again in Welsh. Giles made signs to show that he did not understand. The old man smiled kindly. `I'm lost,' said Giles, making more signs. `I want to go to Fablan Fawr.'
The old man seemed to understand. `Fablan Fawr,' he repeated several times, and smiled again. Then he felt inside his long cloak and pulled out a map. He spread the map out on a stone in front of him.
Beverley's new house was not, of course, on the map. But the church of Fablan Fawr was clearly shown. With his thin old hand the stranger pointed to a place on the map. He spoke again in Welsh, then pointed again. `He is telling me that we are here,' said Giles to himself. Then the old man pointed out the path that Giles must take to reach Fablan Fawr. He did this three times, to make sure that Giles understood. Then he pushed the map into Giles's hands. Giles tried to refuse this gift, but the old man only laughed and smiled. Giles thanked him warmly and pushed the map into his coat pocket. Then he set out along the path that the old man had shown him. After a few steps he turned. He saw a shape through the mist, standing and watching him. He waved his hand and set off again. The next time he turned round, the old man had disappeared.Giles walked fast. The mist had become thicker than before, but the path was a good one. From time to time he checked his route on the map. Soon the path led him down a very steep hillside. In the mist, Giles could see only a few feet ahead, so he moved very carefully. Suddenly his foot turned on a sharp stone and he almost fell. That stone probably saved his life. It flew up from under his feet and rolled down the steep path. He heard it rolling faster and faster, then the noise stopped. A few seconds later Giles heard a crash as the stone hit the ground hundreds of feet below. The path had led him to the edge of a cliff! Giles picked up another stone and dropped it. Again he heard the distant crash as it fell over the cliff. He looked at the map again. There was no cliff on the route that the old man had shown him. For the first time, Giles became seriously worried. He sat down miserably on a large rock, took out his pipe, and found a match to light it. `Well,' he thought, `I'll just have to sit and wait for the mist to clear.'