“Nothing.”
They ate in silence. After they were finished, Ewan paid for the food and lodging, then led her outside to where the gypsies waited.
In no time, they were on their way again.
Nora spent the rest of the day trying to get Ewan to open up, but he had closed himself off from her again.
No matter what she tried, he ignored her.
Finally, she gave up and rode silently on her horse as they made their way to the rendezvous point where the man was supposed to meet the gypsies and pay them.
They reached the village of Drixel late in the afternoon. The tiny town was bustling with activity as people rushed in and about the small cottages and shops.
Viktor directed them over to the stable that was set up on the edge of the village. A large blacksmith was at work outside at his forge underneath an awning. The stout man paused at his work to watch them.
“Can I help you, good people?” he asked.
“We’re meeting someone,” Viktor said.
The blacksmith nodded and returned to pounding out his horseshoes.
Viktor indicated the back of the stable. “We were supposed to meet him in the last stall.”
Ewan nodded as he considered the best way to go about this confrontation.
The last thing he wanted was for Nora or the gypsies to be harmed.
He looked around the crowd. “Do you see anyone who looks like the man who hired you?”
Viktor shook his head.
“Fine then,” Ewan ordered Lysander to keep the ladies back while he and Viktor went to meet the man who would pay them.
“What if he sees you?” Catarina asked. “It might make him scared to know that you’re here. No offense, Ewan, but you’re a large man and I’m sure he’d be frightened to know you’ve come for retaliation.”
She had a point to that.
“I’ll have Viktor tie my hands then. We can pretend he brought me here for the man’s scrutiny.”
“But we were going to be paid to ride you around, then let you go,” Bavel said. “If he sees you here, he might run.”
“‘Tis a chance we’ll have to take. I’m a little too large to hide anywhere. It’s not as if he’d have any trouble figuring out who I am.”
“Point well taken,” Viktor said.
Viktor told Lysander to fetch a piece of rope.
Once Lysander returned, Ewan allowed Viktor to loosely tie his hands behind his back so that he could escape if needs be.
“I think this is a bad idea,” Nora said. “I dinna cherish the thought of you going in there like this.”
Ewan winked at her. “I’m a big boy, lass, I can handle my own.”
Nora and Catarina exchanged unamused looks as they were left behind.
“Men,” Nora muttered under her breath. “They think they’re invincible and that we are fragile.”
Catarina nodded, then turned to look at their “guard.” “Lysander,” she said. “I am thirsty. Think you, you could fetch my tankard from the wagon so that I could get a drink of water from yon well?”
