Ahe did not look again at the willow or remember the stone on the bank. With a small pebble, he scratched one short mark in the wooden side of the boat.

“It fell from right here.” He measured the scratch with his finger and felt relieved. “At the dock, I'll look below this mark.”

The scratch did mark the right piece of wood. But Ahe forgot to ask whether that wood would remain above the same patch of river. Below the water, the sword stayed where it had landed.