‘That’s the Fletchers’ bull. He went missing from the farm.’ She stepped down onto the street. ‘Get me something to catch him with.’
‘To catch abull?’ Blake called to her back.
Lyndal ran after it. The animal did not slow until it reached the end of the street, leaving confused merchants running for cover.
‘Wait,’ Lyndal called, out of breath. ‘Remember me? From the swamp? I can take you home. I know where you live.’
The bull turned with a snort, pawing at the ground. Blake and Eda arrived a moment later with a length of rope.
What exactly is your plan?Eda signed.
‘Obviously she’s going to use her expert bull-catching skills to secure this enormous charging animal with a single piece of rope,’ Blake replied.
Lyndal bit her lip. ‘He was quite tame last time we met.’ She frowned. ‘Though he was stuck in mud at the time.’
Blake folded her arms. ‘Well, he seems less tame today.’
Lyndal took the rope from Eda and drew a long breath. She moved slowly towards the woolly bull, careful not to startle it. She was pleasantly surprised when it did not immediately take off or impale her on one of its horns. She approached from the side to be safe, carefully slipping the rope around its neck and tying it in a knot. With a relieved sigh, she turned to her sisters with a triumphant smile.
‘Well done,’ Blake called. ‘Now what? You going to ride it back to the farm?’
Ignoring her, Lyndal gave the rope a gentle tug to get the bull to start walking. The animal dropped its head before taking off again. Lyndal foolishly tried to keep hold of the rope and was dragged several feet before falling forwards onto the muddy street. She got her hands out just in time to stop her face from colliding with the stone. Looking up, she watched her sisters leap out of the way and the bull run off.
Instead of coming to help her, Blake and Eda doubled over with laughter while asking if she was all right.
‘What if I had broken something?’ Lyndal said, standing up and looking down at her mud-covered dress.
‘Then we would have scooped you up in our arms and laughed all the way to the physician’s house,’ Eda said, speaking instead of signing.
Blake’s laughter died at the sound of her youngest sister’s voice. She pulled Eda to her. ‘I love hearing you speak.’
‘Yes,’ Lyndal said, joining them. ‘More of that, please.’
She looked in the direction the bull had gone and stilled when she saw Astin standing in the middle of the road, watching her. A familiar energy filled her chest and a smile spread across her face.
‘I found your bull,’ she called to him.
His expression did not change. ‘Yes, I saw it run by.’
‘Did you see the rope around its neck?’ Blake asked, biting back a grin. ‘That was all her.’
Lyndal turned to glare at her sister.
Blake cleared her throat and began pulling Eda down the street. ‘We’re going to head back to the shop.’
‘But we won’t be able to hear from there,’ Eda whispered.
‘That one was probably best said with your hands.’ Blake smiled at Astin as she passed him.
Suddenly aware of the enormous distance between them, Lyndal moved closer, her hands fidgeting at her sides because she had no idea where they stood. He had told her he was done, but he had also told her he loved her. Mind you, he had been locked in a burning tower at the time. Now all the obstacles between them were gone, and yet he stood there not touching her.
‘I can’t believe you took on a fifteen-hundred-pound charging bull,’ he said.
She shrugged. ‘Honestly, he seemed nicer the first time we met.’
His mouth lifted.
Why was she so unbelievably nervous? ‘I’m very sorry about your mother. Presley told me what happened.’
