Chapter 4: Of Lovers, Gods, and Beasts

Official Synopsis
Carpenter attempts to locate the Trawler-Man's church in the woods of Penda's Slake - but runs into trouble instead.

The Walk Through the Woods
We open on Carpenter, talking to the Trawlerman. She speakes of her dislike for the miracle she and Faulkner encountered, and how the trawlerman is destruction and stillness to her, not the crawling and chitinous things. She relates this back to her childhood at the reform house, and then inventories what possessions she has on herself. She then encounters Charity and Gareth for the first time. They exchange awkward pleasantries, and the couple's bickering reminds Carpenter of Todd, a boy at the reform house. She tells the story of Todd's attempt at a proposal of a relationship to her, and her refusal.

The Elk of Birch and Bone, And the Lovebirds
Carpenter then starts describing the woods, but then nearly trips on a snare. There's the remnants of fur, and the bracken ahead is broken. Carpenter begins to follow the trail of the creature. She encounters the body of an elk, rotten, and lifted on birch branches. It's proportions are off, and it has fingers instead of hooves. She fights the urge to dismiss it, to continue on in comfort, and turns the elk, seeing the prayer-mark carved into its hide. She doesn't recognise it, and thus decides to get out of the woods before sundown.

She then re-encounters Charity and Gareth, Gareth being angry the Carpenter's dog scared his partner. Carpenter doesn't have a dog. Concerned about being followed in the middle of a sacred territory to an illegal god, Carpenter probes the two for information, with Charity being cooperative, and Gareth being a hindrance, saying that Charity coulnd e relied on due to forgetting her glasses. Carpenter informs the two of the danger, and asks them to head with her to get picked up by Faulkner, given that that would be the fastest way out for all three of them. Gareth's bickering continues to delay any action, and in aside, Carpenter acknowledges the added risk of taking them along. In aside, she resolves to leave them there. She then heads over to intervene, and attempts again to convince Gareth to come with her. She is interrupted by the sound of an animal shrieking.

The Chase and The Chapel
Carpenter takes off at a brisk walk, Charity decides to follow suit, forcing Gareth to keep up. They are being followed by the dog-things, described vaguely, as Carpenter can only watch them in her peripherals, as she attempts to keep from provoking them into giving chase. As they walk, Carpenter asks Charity what brought her here, who responds that she was local, bringing Gareth back to show him where she was from.

Gareth sees a house, which he assumes to be shelter. It is dilapidated, and has birch growing throuhout it. He backs sheltering in it, but Carpenter identifies it as potentially being the haunt of a god. Gareth ignores her and heads in. He sees pictures on the wall, which are likely complex prayer-marks of this woods-god. He begins to frantically repeat the line 'There's them that lead, and them that chase.' He turns back to Charity and Carpenter, and raises a hand.

The Feast
Gareth undergoes a graphic transformation into an elk-thing. The creature, an elk of birch and bone, prepares to charge at them, and Charity and Carpenter scramble onto the roof of the porch. It leaves the house and is closed in on by the snare-dogs, which kill it in a drawn out manner, mouths transformed into lashing tendrils. Charity begins to panic, and the elk's body transforms, some bones sprouting into birch trees which lift the carcass, the blood causing ivy to sprout. Carpenter realises the road is less than a quater-mile away, but given the threat of the dogs, Charity and Carpenter are forced to wait in the growing darkness.

The Realisation, and the Path to Safety
Charity spots headlights on the road, and Carpenter prepares to make a run for it. Then she realises Charity was said to have very poor eyesight, and begins to confront her. Charity drops the act, and in aside, Carpenter identifies Charity as a lure for The God of Penda's Slake, having been one herself for the Trawlerman. Charity hops off the roof, and the snare-dogs nuzzle at her. Charity attempts to goad Carpenter into coming off the roof, or going into the chapel. Carpenter realises that, from her inventory, she has matches, and a copy of the Silt Verses. She uses it to set fire to the chapel. This irritates Charity and the snare-dogs, and beyond that, acts as a signal for Faulkner, who drives offroad up through the woods, but begins to slow down.

Realising that allowing him to stop would let Charity and the dogs reach him, Carpenter jumps off the roof, injuring her ankle, but pushes past it to run for the van. She reaches it, but is caught around the leg by Charity, who has undergone a transformation, jaws unwound in similar fashion to the snare-dogs. Carpenter kicks her off with her free leg, and passes out as Faulkner drives the two of them away.