Horland’s head spun. He could see her mouth move but the sound of her words blurred. He had to know if she was in any way related to Patricia and Dianne. He could not find itin his imagination to believe three such similar women existed in this world without being related.
She tipped her head to the side as if she were confused.
Horland gave a shake of his head.
“Did you hear me?” she asked. “I said, how far are the mountains from here?”
“Some distance from the forest. You will see them shortly.”
“Great. Could you please give us some privacy for a bit so we girls can wash?”
Again, her speech reminded him of Patricia and her sister. He smashed his lips together and nodded. “Be aware and call me if danger arrives.”
“Wolves?”
“No, not here, but the salmon are running so there might be bears close by.”
“I didn’t know there were bears in England.”
“We are not in England, we are in Pradwick.”
“Of course, I forgot. Anyhow...” She glanced toward the trees behind him.
He let out a gust of air at her disrespect but said nothing. He turned and made his way into the forest thinking that mayhap, he could use his sword as a spear to catch some fish. His stomach knotted, but it wasn’t at the thought of eating a meal of fish, but how he was going to approach the subject of Patricia with the woman.
He wasn’t sure if he should wait until they were better acquainted. Mayhap then, she would be more forthcoming in her answer. No. He could wait no longer—she was casting some sort of spell over him. It was her fault he slept little the night before. She was so close, he could hear her breathing, smell the herbs she had rubbed into her hair, felt her every movement as she shifted trying to find comfort on the hard ground. The thought crossed his mind that she would bemore at ease resting her head on his chest. That idea startled him into pushing all thought of her away and concentrating on his mission.
Princess Morla thought herself a seer. If he couldn’t get answers from Briana or if he didn’t trust her explanations, he would submit her to Princess Morla and hope the young princess was truly a seer.
Chapter 8
Bree watched Horland disappear once more into the trees. He had something on his mind, and she was certain it was her. Did she have the same effect on him as he did on her? Every time she sensed or caught him watching her, her stomach either dropped as if a weight had fallen on it, or her heart flipped like it was some sort of circus performer.
She didn’t even know why her body reacted like that, because most times the look on his face wasn’t admiring but annoyed or confused, as if he was trying to make sense of her. Of course, that was understandable—she expected she was quite different to women of this time even though she tried to keep modern expressions out of her speech. But sometimes, his attention was baser, and although she’d never really been in the dating game, she assumed women had an innate sense of whether a man was attracted to her or not. And she did sense that more than once.
The girl tugged Bree’s cloak. “Okay, sweetie, let’s get some of this grime off us, huh?”
The girl took off her coat and turned her back to Bree.Her dress had buttons down the back and Bree undid them. She shimmied the dress down her body and onto the ground, then started to pull her petticoat over her head. “No, I think you should keep that on in case Sir Knight back there makes a reappearance.”
The girl shrugged and stepped into the water.
“Stay near the bank, okay? I can swim but I’m not that good.”
The girl grinned and sat down in the cold water. She shivered and holding her nose, she dipped her head back so the water covered her head.
Bree glanced back in the direction Horland had left. They were alone as far as she could make out. She just hoped it stayed that way.
Bree undressed down to her petticoat as well and glancing around again, she quickly joined the girl in the stream. The girl sat up and giggled, shaking her head, her wet hair throwing droplets of water in all directions including on Bree.
“Stop that, it’s freezing.”
The girl sputtered and stopped shaking, though she kept her smile. She instantly dove her hands down and scooped out handfuls of water over Bree.
Bree screamed and the brat laughed and laughed. Bree frowned. “So, you do have vocal cords. Why can’t you speak?”
The girl shrugged and scooped up more water.
Bree held out her hands to tell her to stop. “At least let me get used to the cold first.”
