“We should pick some more then.”
The girl and Bree picked the plants and Bree’s nerves tingled along her backbone. She didn’t have to look to know Horland was watching her, but she had to know what his expression was, so she quickly glanced over her shoulder. She plucked a celery plant out of the ground. She should have known by the tingles down her back that he was admiring her. She frowned. She didn’t know how to feel about that.
She stood up and turned to face him. He averted his eyes and she almost laughed at the look on his face. His face flushed pink and he looked like a little boy caught stealing candy.
Bree and the girl emptied their harvest into Horland’s pack.
“We should continue,” he said and started marching along the path.
Bree was sorry to see his relaxed state disappear. She hurried alongside of him and taking a deep breath, said, “So what’s up with you and your friend Sir Garlain?”
“What’s up? I don’t know what you mean by those words.”
“I mean, why are you angry with him?”
“I want answers to my questions, and he is the one to satisfy my curiosity.”
He looked at her then, a deep, penetrating look that had Bree drawing in a sharp breath. His gaze took in her entire face, zigzagging down to where his eyes stopped moving and targeted her lips. Her heart rocked in her chest. She stared at his partly opened mouth and, without thinking, she licked her lips. Heat filled her face. Was he trying to confuse her?
He cleared his throat. “You are quite beautiful and so like another woman I once knew.”
Bree blinked and gave a quick shake of her head. So, that was why he was always staring at her. She knew instantly who he was talking about because other than inheriting her father’s red hair, she and her mother could have been twins in appearance, right down to body types. He was thinking about her mother.
“Did you love that woman?”
“No. Although in another time and place, we might have made a connection, but it wasn’t meant to be. Like you, she was beautiful and kind and friendly, and it is true, I was drawn to her—as were many knights—but we did not connect.” He frowned and glanced at Bree before lowering his eyes to watch where his feet stepped.
“But she and Sir Garlain did? Are you talking about his wife?”
“I am.”
“If you’re not in love with her, why are you trying to find her?”
“I am worried about her.”
“Oh.” What else could Bree say? He was right to be worried about her. But did he think Garlain had done something to her?”
She tried to keep her voice light. “So, you think your friend is hiding her?”
They stepped into another clearing, but it was no lighter there than on the path.
Horland stopped and surveyed the area. “We will rest here.”
The girl gave him a thankful look and spread her coat out on the scarcely grassed ground and immediately fell asleep.
“That’s not going to be too comfortable,” Bree said, smiling down at the child.
“She is young,” Horland said.
“True. Look, I have to take a walk, can you watch her while I’m gone?”
“I will.”
Bree hurried into the dense forest and found a shrub with a little room behind it.
When she was finished, she started to stand up. A howl pierced her ears. She froze. Another howl: the wolf was closer, much closer. Her heart raced and throbbed in her temples. She scanned the area, but there was too much vegetation to see if it was within striking distance. Making sure she didn’t trip over any dead wood, she backed up. Had Horland heard the wolf? Would he come to her or would he stay with the child? She backed up into a great tree trunk and stilled. The silence was thick and frightening. She tried to keep her breaths quiet but couldn’t stop them from coming out in short gasps.
A low growl sounded to her right. She held her breath as sweat trickled down her hairline, itching her skin, but she refused to scratch, refused to make any movement that might signal to the wolf she was there. There was no breeze to take her scent away, so the wolf might smell her.
