Davie and Alan leave the cleft and hike for seven hours before they come to the end of a mountain range. Now they must decide which direction to go in. Appin, to the west, is crawling with soldiers (which they must avoid for the murder blame and Alan's background). The land to the south is crawling with Campbells, and going north will not work for Davie, who wants to get to Edinburgh, and Alan who needs to get to France. So they decide to head east, though Davie again realizes that if they parted ways, they might both be safer. They must cross the moors (aka a open wasteland) and they run a great risk of being seen, but they have no choice.
The journey is tough. Half the time they must crawl on their bellies or run on their knees, and soon Davie becomes very tired. They rest at noon in a bush and take turns watching. When Davie takes his watch, he falls asleep. When he wakes up he discovers soldiers heading their way. Davie wakes Alan, who quickly decides to head for a mountain. This takes them past the soldiers, forcing them to run on their knees for most of the way. Just as they near the mountain they are ambushed. Luckily, it turns out to be friends, men of Cluny Macpherson. The men lead them to Cluny's hideaway in the woods.
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