“But she’s out there all alone. She’ll be scared senseless. Why did she even go in the first place? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Mayhap she spied an animal and followed it. She is a curious little thing.”
“But even if she did, once she realized she was lost, she would have screamed so we could find her.” She shivered, crossed her arms over her chest, and hugged herself. “She wouldn’t have left us by choice. I have a horrible feeling something took her.”
“Do not think that way. I do not have those feelings. As you said, if an animal had taken her, she would have screamed. No, I do not think an animal has hurt her, I think her curiosity has led her into the forest and she has become lost. Mayhap she is too scared to scream. She is a bright child, after all—she would know that to do so would bring attention to her.”
Briana handed Horland a carrot. “I hope you’re right.”
Horland hoped so too.
Though they both tried to eat the carrots, neither had an appetite.
Briana wrapped the vegetables in a cloth and placed them into Horland’s pack. “The child will be hungry when we find her.”
Horland agreed with a nod as a big droplet of water fell on his head. He looked up. Rain was falling and while the canopy gave them some shelter, the large droplets forming under the leaves would still fall and wet them.
Horland quickly made a shelter of branches and foliage for them to sleep under.
THE NEXT DAY HORLANDawoke with Briana snuggled up against him. She was completely still, and he guessed, like him, she had only recently fallen asleep.
He knew he was being senseless, but he dared not move for fear he would wake her. He enjoyed feeling her soft body against his. The chilly morning air had him breathing out wisps of smoke and as she moved closer, trying to find warmth, he couldn’t resist pushing her fiery red hair from her face. The freckles that had captivated him the first time he saw her had faded without the direct sunlight. He hoped they would return to their full glory once they cleared the forest’s canopy.
He reveled in her closeness and gazed at what he thought to be the most beautiful face he had ever seen, even more beautiful than Patricia or Dianne.
The light grew brighter and he noted the wisps of vapor from his mouth became shorter and faster. He wished at that moment that the child had not wandered away, that she was sleeping also, and he could stay with Briana like that for aslong as she slept. However, he could not let the child remain lost and alone for any longer than she had to be, so reluctantly, he nudged Briana awake.
She shook her shoulders and groaning, made a face.
Horland smiled at her reluctance to wake. If only he could believe her silly story. He gave himself a silent smack. None of what she said made sense, and he bristled to think she thought he would believe anything she said.
RESUMING THE SEARCHwhere he left off the night before, Horland couldn’t find any sign of the child. He gazed up and noted the canopy had thinned above them, which meant rain found its way to the earth more easily there. If any foot tracks were there, they were long erased.
They found a narrow much-used animal track not far from the clearing and decided to follow that. Horland kept an eye on the sun in the sky and once it was high enough knew they were travelling east.
Staying on course, he was overjoyed to find the animal track joined with the main thoroughfare through the forest.
“The ruins are not far from here,” he said, continuing along the road. “If we don’t find her before then, Princess Morla can use her third eye to find her location.”
Bree stopped. There had been something in her mother’s diary about Morla being some sort of seer. She wished now that she had read the diary again before venturing into the past. “Morla? What has she got to do with any of this? You said you never spoke to her.”
He halted and turned to face her. “I didn’t speak with her, but I was told she had brought provisions to the ruins. That is why I expect to find Garlain there.”
“Are you saying the entire royal family is hiding Garlain away? Why?”
“That is one of my many questions.” Horland continued on his way.
Briana trotted up to fall into step beside him. “Do you really think the princess is a seer?”
“No. Butshedoes, so mayhap her hunches are more solid than ours might be.”
“Like she might have a sixth sense, or what we might call trusting your gut.”
He drew his brows together and studied her, wondering if indeed she may be mad.
“It’s a saying where I come from, and my aunt and uncle always told us to trust our gut. You must have had feelings about something before, like your stomach goes queasy or something just before something bad happens.”
Horland thought about that. He had felt something like that before. The most recent was when he happened upon the bandits—his stomach did tighten just before he came upon them.
