‘Oh, I see,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘You want to sell him as aworkinganimal. Well, all right, then.’ He pulled out his coin pouch and winked at Roul. ‘Working animal it is.’
Eda rolled her eyes. ‘We all know you’ll slaughter the donkey before we even make it to the bridge.’
Jankin looked in her direction. ‘Hope you lot didn’t come all this way for the bridge.’
Roul narrowed his eyes. ‘What does that mean?’
‘The bridge was destroyed a few years back after some heavy rains,’ Jankin said. ‘Current tore it clean off. Just carried the whole thing away. There was talk of replacing it once everything settled down a bit, but the rain doesn’t stop for long, does it?’
Roul and Tatum exchanged a look.
‘How do boats get up and down the river if the current’s that strong?’ Eda asked.
The butcher practically laughed. ‘Look around you, love. They don’t. The few supplies we get come inland now—and that’s not guaranteed.’
His words left them all speechless for a moment.
‘So how do you cross the river, then?’ Blackmane asked.
Jankin leaned his weight on his good leg and scratched his cheek. ‘We don’t. Safest not to cross at all. Even with horses as fine as those, the current is strong.’
‘We need to get to Gwynedd,’ Eda said. ‘Where’s our best chance of crossing on horseback?’
The butcher sucked his teeth, thinking a moment. ‘You might see some improvement farther downstream as you get closer to the sea. Just be mindful that there are boulders as big as mountains hidden beneath the water’s surface. And the banks are eroding, so you best take care exiting the water.’ He held the two crowns out to Roul.
The commander drew a breath, then shook his head. ‘I think we’ll take the animal with us. I’m sorry to waste your time.’
Blackmane shook his head, and Hadewaye glanced at Eda, eyes smiling.
‘Suit yourself,’ Jankin said, waving them off. ‘Might get the whole lot free if you drown.’ He was smiling when he said it, broken teeth on display.
As they rode away, Eda trotted up beside Roul. ‘Thank you.’
He shook his head, visibly annoyed. ‘Don’t thank me yet.’
CHAPTER23
It was not long before they heard the sound of running water, a sound that grew to a roar the closer they got. When the river finally came into view, they all shifted nervously in their saddles. The river was around one hundred and fifty yards wide and running at a speed that made it impossible to see what lay beneath the surface. The spray coming from it had the horses backing up.
Tatum emitted a long whistle. ‘That onion butcher wasn’t exaggerating, was he?’
‘He said it would be better downstream,’ Eda said.
Roul looked at her. ‘Might. He said itmightbe better.’
She shrugged. ‘We try, or we turn around and go home.’
Everyone waited for Roul’s response.
He swung his horse west. ‘Fine. Let’s see how it is farther down.’
‘Not how I imagined dying,’ Alveye whispered to Hadewaye.
Eda pressed her eyes closed and went to catch up to Roul.
The current did not change, but there were sections of the river that were narrower than others. Every half mile, Roul would dismount to check the water level with a stick. The butcher had been right about the corroding banks. Twice Roul was forced to leap back as the ground he stood on was swept away.
‘There must be another bridge somewhere,’ Blackmane said when Roul returned to his horse for the fourth time. ‘King Edward’s clearly crossing somewhere.’
