ruse she must begin.
Like her sister, Clara bit her lip. Would Kenneth be punished when she slipped away from him?
She stepped back. “Thank you. I will favor it for the rest of the day.” She set the pots of salve back on the old shelf above the fire. “Did you finish repairing your mail?”
“Aye.”
“After we’re done in the garden, I shall start a good stew for our midday meal. I’ve found a few stray vegetables. Whoever harvested the garden last year missed them and they must be eaten before they sprout again.”
“Won’t they give you new vegetables?”
Despite the tension gripping her, Clara smiled and shook her head. “Nay. These are root vegetables and will soon turn woody. Besides, they are misshapen and we only allow the best roots to go to seed.” She tipped her head. “You’ve never gardened?”
“Nay. My sisters did that with my mother, but as soon as I was old enough, I went to Lord Adrien’s family to page, then to squire for him. I’ve only trained for soldiering, not for keeping a home, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be afraid,” she mocked softly. “Keeping a home never killed anyone.”
“Unlike soldiering?”
Her smile dropped. She hated everything that caused death—fevers, fighting, even hard childbirth and damp conditions for a newborn.
She swallowed. The conversation was souring, so she lifted the skirt of her dark cyrtel with her good hand. This was her darkest outfit, for she needed to blend into the forest. “I should finish in the garden before I start that stew.”
Back outside, Clara plunked down beside Brindi.
“We need to go,” the girl whispered. “Rowena needs you!”
With the barest nod, Clara eased out a controlled sigh. “You’ll know when.”
Since that scraping noise, Brindi had been anxious to check on the woman. Only when Kenneth left the hut this morning to set up his armor—having had it delivered by young Rypan, the sweet boy whose aunt worked in the keep’s kitchen—did Clara quietly work out their plan. They’d done it before, having slipped away from unwanted people. She’d already hidden a bundle of things she would need in the forest behind the village.
She peered over her shoulder. Kenneth had returned to the nearby bench to collect his things in sober silence.
Clara stood to toss more weeds into the coop and abruptly felt Kenneth’s gaze upon her, heavy as a winter cloak. Like Brindi, she wanted badly to check on Rowena. For the woman to have come by last night, it must have been urgent. Mayhap the babe was sick?
But with Kenneth here, waiting for her to reveal the location, there would be no open trips to Rowena.
Brindi stood also. Now? she mouthed.
Nodding, Clara walked past Kenneth to retrieve the rake she’d left at the front of the hut. He watched her walk by. She grabbed the handle and turned to capture his stare with a mild one of her own, something suggesting complete innocence, she hoped.
She then shot her gaze from him to where Brindi had been standing. Immediately, Kenneth spun, catching a glimpse of the child as she slipped into the woods behind the hut.
In the next heartbeat, he raced after her.
* * *
Kenneth plunged into the thick undergrowth, his eyes capturing Brindi’s darting movement as she tore through the forest. Her cyrtel had just enough color to stand out in the light green foliage. She wasn’t going to be hard to follow.
Ahead, she let out a cry as she lost her footing and plunged forward. He raced toward her, crashing through the trees.
“Brindi!” he cried, stopping at the last minute to prevent himself from toppling on top of her as she lay in a shallow hollow. She lifted her head. Her eyes were as wide as they had been last night, her gaze cautious as she scanned their surroundings.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
In a tiny voice, she answered, “I cannot tell. I’m too scared to move.”
He scanned her frame, seeing her cyrtel was merely mussed. Her feet wiggled as she tried to sit up, and he could see she was quite unharmed. Children being children, they often imagined ailments for attention.
Still, he checked her for broken bones. “You’ll be fine,” he said soothingly. “Just a tumble. See, the hollow here has only leaves, and they cushioned your fall.”
She nodded and sniffed.
But, he noted, there were no tears, just that cautious look again.
“Why did you race off? Were you going to Rowena?” He tried to keep his voice even and smooth, but wasn’t completely successful.
She sniffed again. “Nay. I just wanted to play in the woods.”
And as with all children, small lies came far too easily to their lips. He bristled, hating that he’d seen through it so quickly. “’Tis a sin to lie, girl. You know there is too little time to play, and just moments ago, you were quite content to pull weeds with your sister. Why did you run away? The truth this time!”
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
