The little girl started walking along one. “Hang on. We have to make sure.”
Bree knelt and scanned the area for Horland’s boot prints. She was no tracker, but she’d had to find missing horses and goats before, and this was the only way she knew how.
Spying the tracks on the path the girl had taken, she rested on her ankles and peered at the child. “You know where he’s going, don’t you?”
She nodded.
Bree stood up and waved her hand in the same direction. “Okay then, lead the way.”
Chapter 7
The light was disappearing fast and as if she’d summoned the rain just by thinking about it earlier, it was leaking through the canopy of the forest. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to dampen everything around, under and on them. She wasn’t sure what material her cloak was made from, probably a mixture of organic and synthetic, but it seemed to repel the dampness better than the girl’s red coat. She huddled the child in close and draped the cloak over her head.
A howl echoed around them and Bree stiffened. The girl pushed in closer to her side and let out a small cry. Bree couldn’t tell what direction the wolf was but was sure it wasn’t close. “It’s okay. It’s a long way away.”
By the time Bree spotted what she hoped was Horland’s shadow ahead of them, the light had gone, and a constant drizzle fell on her head. He disappeared behind a tree.
Bree pulled the girl up. “Do you think that was Horland?”
She couldn’t see the girl’s eyes, but the way she leaned back, she sensed the girl’s surprise—or was it shock?
“What?” she asked the girl.
Her little shadow shook its head.
“Oh, you don’t like me calling your knight Horland. Do I have to always say Sir Horland?”
She nodded.
“Sorry kid, no can do. It’s way too formal to speak like that here, but I promise, I’ll stick with the correct protocol when we get to Frother.”
The girl tilted her head and gazed at Bree like she was trying to decide if it would be okay.
“We good now?” Bree asked.
The girl frowned.
“I mean, are we all right? Friends?”
The child nodded and they continued along the path to the tree. Horland or whoever the dark form was pounced in front of them.
“Stop where you stand.”
Bree started but grinned. It was Horland. “Thank goodness it’s you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I, that is, we, yeah, we, got worried when no other wagons or even people on horses came by and it was getting late and I guess I got scared so I thought we should find you. You are a knight, after all, and sworn to save people in distress, are you not?”
He didn’t say anything, and Bree wondered if he could see in the dark, because she was certain he was glaring at her. After a minute of silence, he turned on his heels and strode along the path.
Bree grabbed the girl’s hand and quickly followed.
Letting him have all the space ahead, she kept her eyes on his back, not wanting to lose what faint sight she had of him. His back was wide and tapered down to his belted waist. She couldn’t help her gaze lowering further but couldn’t seeanything but darkness. A little disappointed, she followed his easy gait. Checking her stride against the girl’s, Bree realized he’d slowed so they wouldn’t have to hurry to keep up with him. So, he had empathy, at least for the girl.
They all soon got into a rhythm and made good progress into the forest. The trees closed in on them and the path turned into a single narrow track. Bree thought that either the canopy had thickened exponentially, or the rain had stopped.
She couldn’t see much, but Horland’s dark silhouette dropped to the ground in front of her and she had to stop abruptly before she plowed right into him.
