Page 3 of Songs and Spun Gold
For a moment, Katy simply stared at him. Then she burst out laughing.
Once she worked it down to spurts of giggles, she said, “You? Help me? To marryhim?” It was so absurd, she lost control of her mirth and doubled over again.
“I assure you, it is quite possible,” he replied with a perfectly straight face. “I ask only a small price, should I succeed.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” she asked, holding her sides as she struggled to breathe through her laughter.
When he told her, she collapsed against the stone wall of the mill, staring open-mouthed in shock at his audacity. “Asmallprice?”
“It would only be owed should I succeed,” he reminded her.
She snorted. “Fat chance of that. I’m the poor daughter of the Flussendorf miller. He’d never even consider it.”
The stranger smiled mysteriously. “Then you have nothing to worry about. But then, one never knows. So, do we have a deal?”
Katy examined him, with his strange choice of dress and his over-confident attitude. It was impossible. No matter who he was or what he could do, it wasimpossible. Even if it wasn’t, she could never pay such a price, no matter what she received in exchange.
“Do we have a deal?” he repeated.
The absurdity hit her again, and she pushed off from the wall. “Sure,” she said flippantly, only moments away from giving in to the giggles gathering in her chest. “Ifby some miracle, I actually marry him someday by his own choice, andifyou materially help make it happen—” she paused as a thought occurred to her “—without blackmailing him or something, then I’ll give you yoursmall price.”
“Agreed,” he said with a wide – but not pleasant – grin.
Katy shuddered as her scalp prickled. Her impulse to laugh vanished.
“Well, I—I’d better get back inside,” she said lamely as she grabbed for the doorknob.
The stranger gave her a mocking wave farewell as she swiftly closed the door and dropped against it.
That was—different.
As she moved toward the back, Katy paused when she realized she’d never gotten his name, but quickly convinced herself that it didn’t matter. She would never see him again, and she most decidedly didnotwant to.
It wasn’t like he could make good on the deal, assuminghe remembered it when she was old enough to make it happen. He was just a weird traveler who enjoyed riling up gullible young village girls.
For a moment, she longingly considered a future with her wish-he-was-a-friend. Then shivering at what that would mean if the stranger had a hand in it, she promptly shoved the entire encounter from her mind.
It would never happen anyway, so there was no sense in dwelling on it.
Nine Years Later
CHAPTER 1
Katy
Katy puffed out another breath as she climbed the final hill before Flussendorf. Gripping the straps of her pack, she bent forward and tried to move a little faster. The grass was slick with dew, and the numerous rocks were little better. Her foot slipped, causing her to stumble, but she soon regained her footing and trudged on, shifting the pack as she went.
“Who knew wool could weigh so much?” she grumbled under her breath.
She did, of course. She’d only been doing this every spring for the last five years.
“Don’t know why you’re complaining,” Louise gasped from behind her. “You’re always carrying flour. Can’t be much worse, surely.”
Katy shook her head. “I don’t carry the sacks uphill.” Glancing back, she paused to let her friend catch up. “You could always tell Babette no.”
“Can’t,” Louise panted. Her pale blonde hair, braided into a coil around her head, was starting to glisten with sweat. “She’s my cousin. Needs my help.”
Grinning, Katy continued her trek up the hill as her friend staggered up to her. A lock of curly, dark brown hair escaped her braid and fell in front of her eyes. Sparing a hand to tuck it behind her ear, she buried the other one in the rough wool ofher drab skirt, hiking it up as she stepped up onto a rock in her path.
