The mid-day sun burned in Maccabeus's pale eyes. He looked to the ground and squinted, placing a hand on Wolf's shoulder and caughing again on the cloud of ash thus produced.
His mouth was dry and foul; he was equally sure that Wolf's was too. Having passed this area only yesterday, he knew that countless vernal streams ran down from the mountains and through these foothills to feed the noisey river that ran along side the road into the city. That would be his first priority, personally. He realized that the tall folk would doubtless need to report back to their boss in the city, but they did not need him for that.
Raising his slowly-adjusting eyes to the fields around him, shading his brow with his hand, he cast about the fields. There, behind them and to the south, just south of the sorrowed bramble patch, he espied a break in the flora at the edge of the field. That would be where one of the vernal streams fed this field with a natural irrigation waterway - and this time of year it would be flowing high.
"I'm going to get cleaned." He croaked to his companions. "Hayi," he added, coughing, "water." Wolf perked up and strode along with him.
It was but a short distance to where Maccabeus had spotted the stream, and it gurggled happily as it flowed into the fields. Maccabeus removed his hide armor as he approached its banks. His bedroll, spear, and dagger he cast upon the bank and splashed full into the invigorating, chill waters.
Shallow though it was, it was plenty deep to attend Maccabeus's needs; standing in the middle of the stream the waters ran about him up to his armpits. He dunked full under the water, rubbing his head vigorously to dislodge the ashe that had settled upon him. Wolf pounced on his friend happily and the two splashed for a time, field-workers glancing nervously as they were not accustomed to seeing such a large wolf, and so close to their flocks.
Emerging from the water, much refreshed, the pair moved stone's throw upstream and drank deeply of the clean near-freezing waters. Maccabeus took some care to rinse his water skin and refill it with fresher water.