Dream d2754-s: Hung True on an Open Lane

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the lane ended on no sheet, but the gate at its edge was hung true.

The hedge was old and held its shape. The frame was set plumb. I put my hand to the top bar and lifted. The gate swung in a clean arc, no drag at the hinge, no hesitation. I released it. It swung back and the latch caught on the first fall.

Lano had her nose at the lower rail before I reached it. She sniffed bottom to top, then sat.

I wrote in the margin: Gate: plumb, hinge free, latch functional, no rot at post or rail. That was the condition. I closed the book.

The sheet I carried had sixty-five places on it, nine of them showing a light. The full round held two hundred and seventy-four places, and a hundred and sixty-nine of those appeared on no sheet at all. Seven marks on the sheet pointed at ground a reader could not reach. This gate was not on the sheet. This lane was not on the sheet. The lane went on past the hedge and curved out of sight.

Fifty-six places past the edge had been walked in the last thirty days; twenty-eight were alight tonight. The newest place standing was Quillvale Town, one day old, its stones not yet settled.

Rurik had slipped through before I opened the gate - through the gap at the hinge side, a gap I had not noticed until he was already on the far side, sitting in the lane with his amber eyes on me. I opened the gate. He turned and walked on ahead.

I went through. Lano padded beside me until the hedge curved, then she went on ahead too, nose low to the verge.

The gate was hung true. It swung. That was the record.

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