She shook her head. “Thanks, sweetie, but I’m fine. You eat it, okay?”
The girl looked at Horland and he understood she wanted Briana to have something. He unwrapped a slab of cheese, broke two pieces off and handed one to the girl and the other to Briana. He’d only packed enough to keep one man alive for a few days, or if he were careful, a week. Mayhap he could buy more provisions from the traders who used the road to Frother. He pulled more bread off the loaf and handed it to Briana.
She smiled shyly and casting her gaze down, she dipped into a curtsy and took it. “Thank you.”
But the half smile that alighted her lips when she looked back up told him she was laughing at him again. The sooner he rid himself of the woman, the better. He packed the bag once more and hanging it over his shoulder, he stood up. “Can you walk and eat?”
Briana sniffed the cheese and nodded.
Taking the lead, Horland made his way to the road. Not three moments later, Briana came to his side and kept pace with him. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “How far is it to Frother?”
He looked at her empty hands then glanced over his shoulder at the girl. She had hardly started eating her portion of food. “Where is the bread and cheese?”
She grinned and patted her stomach. “In here. Thanks, it was scrummy.”
He frowned. Patricia and Dianne used foreign words all the time. If he remembered correctly, they would have said something was yummy if they enjoyed eating it. “Scrummy?”
“Ah, it was nice.”
“I am glad. From where do you come?”
“Ah, over the sea.”
“France?”
“No, across another big sea to the east of England.”
“I have no knowledge of any land across any other seas.”
She smiled and Horland was sure he sensed relief in her posture.
“It’s called America.”
Horland repeated the strange word slowly. “America.”
“Well, North America to be exact.”
“How is it that you are in Pradwick?”
“I’ve come to see my father.”
“How is it that your father is in Pradwick?”
She held her hand up to him, palm out. “Uh-uh, my turn to ask a question. How long before we get to Frother?”
“I am not going to Frother. I will see you to the road and you and the child can continue your journey there.”
Chapter 6
Bree stopped dead. Had he just said he was going to leave them alone on the same road where they’d escaped the meanest ruffians she had ever come across? She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “You what? You can’t just leave us. Aren’t knights supposed to save damsels in distress? Well, there’s two damsels here if you haven’t noticed. And you must save us. You will take us to Frother and King Pradwick.”
The oaf raised his brows at that, but then let out a laugh and kept walking. “Keep up or you’ll get lost.”
He disappeared behind a group of bushes. The girl tugged Bree’s hand and Bree blew out a puff of air. They trotted around the bushes. Horland was standing with his hands crossed over his chain-mailed chest.
“If I wasn’t here, which way would you choose to go?” He pointed to the track he was standing on and then another to Bree’s right.
Bree studied the tracks and, figuring she had a fifty-fifty chance of being right, pointed to the track nearest her.
