diff --git a/internal/check/paths.go b/internal/check/paths.go
index 3658b69..cc9b295 100644
--- a/internal/check/paths.go
+++ b/internal/check/paths.go
@@ -63,3 +63,54 @@ func LinkTargetsWithoutADirectory(text string) []string {
 	}
 	return named
 }
+
+// LinkTargetsAboveTheirDocument returns the markdown link targets a text
+// carries that step out of the document's own directory, in the order it names
+// them, each once. A caller joins each one to the directory its document sits
+// in and gets a repository-relative path.
+//
+// This is a third reading rather than either of the two above growing, and the
+// reason is that both of them are already exact about a different population.
+// PathsNamedInProse requires a leading segment naming a directory of this tree,
+// and `..` is not one; widening it would make it read a pair of full stops in a
+// sentence. LinkTargetsWithoutADirectory skips a target carrying a slash, which
+// is what its name says it returns and what its own comment hands to the prose
+// pattern. A target spelled `../NAME` falls between the two: it is inside
+// parentheses, so the intent is there, and it carries a slash, so the reading
+// that resolves intent will not touch it.
+//
+// The shape it is for is a document under docs/ naming a file at the root,
+// which is the only way one can write that link. `docs/operator-guide.md`
+// pointing at `../LICENSE` is a reader being told a file is there, and until
+// this existed nothing in this tree read that link at all.
+//
+// WHAT THE CALLER STILL OWES. The target is relative to the document and this
+// returns it as written, so a caller that resolves it against the root instead
+// resolves the wrong thing. It also has to decide what to do with a target that
+// climbs past the root of the tree, because this returns that one too: `../..`
+// from a document one directory down names something outside the checkout, and
+// whether such a file exists is not a question any reading of this tree
+// answers.
+func LinkTargetsAboveTheirDocument(text string) []string {
+	var named []string
+	seen := make(map[string]bool)
+
+	for _, match := range linkTarget.FindAllStringSubmatch(text, -1) {
+		target := match[1]
+		if cut := strings.IndexAny(target, "#?"); cut >= 0 {
+			target = target[:cut]
+		}
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(target, "../") {
+			continue
+		}
+		// A scheme or a backslash is left alone for the same reasons the
+		// reading above leaves them alone: one is somebody else's server
+		// and the other is not how a path is written here.
+		if strings.ContainsAny(target, ":\\") || seen[target] {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[target] = true
+		named = append(named, target)
+	}
+	return named
+}
diff --git a/internal/check/paths_test.go b/internal/check/paths_test.go
index 9afef0c..aee6d6d 100644
--- a/internal/check/paths_test.go
+++ b/internal/check/paths_test.go
@@ -87,3 +87,83 @@ func TestWhatCountsAsALinkToAFileBesideTheDocument(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// TestWhatCountsAsALinkToAFileAboveTheDocument exercises the third reader
+// directly, for the same reason the one above is exercised directly. A fixture
+// is a tree and a verdict, so it proves that a document under docs/ linking a
+// root file that is not there is refused and one linking a file that is there
+// is not, and it says nothing about a target carrying a scheme or a fragment,
+// about a target repeated, or about the order two of them come back in. Those
+// arms all fail as silence, which is what a passing suite looks like.
+func TestWhatCountsAsALinkToAFileAboveTheDocument(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		text string
+		want []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "a root file linked from one directory down",
+			text: "The terms are in [LICENSE](../LICENSE) at the root.",
+			want: []string{"../LICENSE"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a fragment on the end",
+			text: "See [the notice](../NOTICE.md#scope).",
+			want: []string{"../NOTICE.md"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "the same target twice",
+			text: "[one](../LICENSE) and [again](../LICENSE)",
+			want: []string{"../LICENSE"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "two targets keep the order they were written in",
+			text: "[first](../NOTICE.md) then [second](../LICENSE)",
+			want: []string{"../NOTICE.md", "../LICENSE"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a climb of more than one directory is returned for the caller to place",
+			text: "See [it](../../NOTICE.md).",
+			want: []string{"../../NOTICE.md"},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a directory on the way back down",
+			text: "See [the record](../docs/decisions/0002-repository-layout.md).",
+			want: []string{"../docs/decisions/0002-repository-layout.md"},
+		},
+
+		{
+			name: "a target beside the document is the second reader's",
+			text: "See [the notice](NOTICE.md) beside this page.",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a target under a directory is the prose pattern's",
+			text: "See [the record](docs/decisions/0002-repository-layout.md).",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "two full stops in a sentence rather than in a link",
+			text: "The file is one directory up, at ../LICENSE, and this names it.",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a target on somebody else's server that climbs",
+			text: "See [the page](https://example.invalid/../NOTICE.md).",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a windows separator after the climb",
+			text: `See [the record](..\notes.md).`,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "a place inside the same page",
+			text: "See [further down](#what-was-run).",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := LinkTargetsAboveTheirDocument(tc.text)
+			if strings.Join(got, ",") != strings.Join(tc.want, ",") {
+				t.Errorf("read %v, want %v", got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/invariants/invariants.go b/internal/invariants/invariants.go
index 5d77904..3d29d1f 100644
--- a/internal/invariants/invariants.go
+++ b/internal/invariants/invariants.go
@@ -497,7 +497,7 @@ func pathsLeg(root string, texts []textFile) (Leg, []Refusal) {
 }
 
 // pathsNamedIn returns every repository-relative path one document names, by
-// both readings, each once. The two readings are joined here rather than
+// all three readings, each once. The readings are joined here rather than
 // refused separately so that one property is produced at one site: a document
 // that writes a path in a sentence and links it as well is one dead pointer and
 // is worth one refusal.
@@ -506,6 +506,13 @@ func pathsLeg(root string, texts []textFile) (Leg, []Refusal) {
 // join uses the document's own directory and not the root. docs/privacy.md
 // links supply-chain.md and means docs/supply-chain.md; resolving that against
 // the root would refuse the file that is there and pass the one that is not.
+//
+// The third reading is the one that reaches a document under docs/ naming a
+// file at the root, which is written ../NAME and is the only way it can be
+// written. That target carries a slash, so the reading above hands it on, and
+// it opens with two full stops, so the prose pattern never had it. It was the
+// shape both of them sat either side of, and until it was read a link nobody
+// could follow was the one that passed.
 func pathsNamedIn(document textFile) []string {
 	named := check.PathsNamedInProse(document.text)
 
@@ -526,9 +533,34 @@ func pathsNamedIn(document textFile) []string {
 		seen[beside] = true
 		named = append(named, beside)
 	}
+
+	for _, target := range check.LinkTargetsAboveTheirDocument(document.text) {
+		above := path.Join(directory, target)
+		if outsideTheTree(above) {
+			// The target climbs past the root of the checkout. Whether a
+			// file out there exists is not a question this tree answers,
+			// and joining it to the root anyway would ask the filesystem
+			// about a path this repository does not hold. It is left alone
+			// for the same reason a target with a scheme in it is.
+			continue
+		}
+		if seen[above] {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[above] = true
+		named = append(named, above)
+	}
 	return named
 }
 
+// outsideTheTree says whether a path that has already been cleaned still points
+// above the root it was resolved from. path.Join collapses what it can, so what
+// is left leading with a pair of full stops is what could not be collapsed, and
+// a target that resolves to the root itself names no file either.
+func outsideTheTree(cleaned string) bool {
+	return cleaned == "." || cleaned == ".." || strings.HasPrefix(cleaned, "../")
+}
+
 // isOwnDocument says whether a path is one of this repository's own documents.
 // A file at the root is one; anything under docs/ is one; nothing else is,
 // because a path named in a comment inside the runner is held by the compiler
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..733c34f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text-files 3
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected-refusals b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected-refusals
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..159931d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/expected-refusals
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+document-names-a-path-that-does-not-resolve
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/near-neighbour b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/near-neighbour
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..18191be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/near-neighbour
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/NOTICE.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/NOTICE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3cfa99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/NOTICE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Notice
+
+This software is developed for lawful use. Operators and users are responsible
+for making sure that their deployment and use comply with the laws that apply
+to them.
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/README.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..547bbec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# a tree
+
+See [NOTICE.md](NOTICE.md) for the intended-use notice. The guide is in
+[docs/guide.md](docs/guide.md).
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/docs/guide.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/docs/guide.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21832ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-not-there/tree/docs/guide.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# The guide
+
+The terms this tree is published under are in [LICENSE](../LICENSE) at the root
+of the checkout, one directory above this page.
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/expected b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/expected
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d7cc38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/expected
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text-files 4
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/expected-refusals b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/expected-refusals
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/LICENSE b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/LICENSE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba94d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/LICENSE
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+The terms this tree is published under.
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/NOTICE.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/NOTICE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3cfa99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/NOTICE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Notice
+
+This software is developed for lawful use. Operators and users are responsible
+for making sure that their deployment and use comply with the laws that apply
+to them.
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/README.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..547bbec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# a tree
+
+See [NOTICE.md](NOTICE.md) for the intended-use notice. The guide is in
+[docs/guide.md](docs/guide.md).
diff --git a/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/docs/guide.md b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/docs/guide.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21832ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/invariants/a-document-under-docs-linking-a-root-file-that-is-there/tree/docs/guide.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# The guide
+
+The terms this tree is published under are in [LICENSE](../LICENSE) at the root
+of the checkout, one directory above this page.