Page 28 of Peregrine's Call
Ada shifted in her sleep, murmuring for her mother.
Robin stroked the girl’s hair to soothe her, and then closed her eyes. Nothing happened by chance. Ada lost her family at a young age, just as Robin did. It was Robin’s duty to see her to safety, just as it was Octavian’s duty to fulfill the mission given to him by the king. She would follow through on her own task, and then assist Tav with his. And she would endure any temptation in silence. She wouldn’t drag him down due to her own folly.
Eased by that thought, she fell asleep, not even hearing the door open again, or the murmur of Octavian’s voice as he went through his own, more lengthy, nightly prayer.
Chapter 11
Before first light, Robin wasawoken by Tav’s hand on her shoulder. “Time to get up,” he told her.
Robin dressed hurriedly in the chill air of the morning since there was no point in stoking the fire before they left. She woke Ada and told her to gather the last few items she wanted for the journey.
Ada nodded seriously and then scrambled under the bed, emerging a moment later with a little bundle of cloth. “I’m ready,” she announced.
“What’s that?”
“Everything of value we owned.” She unknotted the bundle to reveal an intricately carved wooden cross, a few brightly colored stone beads that looked like they might be worth a little money, and, surprisingly, two silver coins.
“Wrap that back up and keep it close to you,” Robin advised. “You may need it before long.”
“I’ll keep it close, but I know I don’t need to worry because you and Sir Octavian will be with me,” she said, with a trusting look on her face that nearly broke Robin’s heart. They’d known the girl for two days, and she put her life in their hands.
At Octavian’s insistence, Robin put on the monk’s robe. He cautioned Ada to only refer to Robin as Brother Robin, and the girl nodded. “Of course. I know how to keep a secret!”
Tav smiled. “I’m sure you do.”
They now had, in Octavian’s words, a troublesome menagerie. The three horses Tav and Robin came with were now followed by a cow, a goat, two sheep, and a small cart bearing a large wooden cage containing the chickens.
Goats were not known for their obedience, and Ada’s goat showed little inclination to follow the line of creatures on the trail. It pulled at its line and wandered to nearby shrubs and in general made Octavian look ready to slaughter it just to be able to move faster.
The fifth time the goat caused them all to stop, Octavian muttered something under his breath and dismounted, striding toward the beast. Robin scrambled down from her horse to follow him. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“This animal is going to be the death of us. How long will it take to get to a town at this pace? Will we have to sleep outside in the cold two nights? Three? Four?” He reached down to grab the rope line.
“You can’t kill it,” Robin said.
“I’m letting it go. The forest can kill it—I don’t want to waste the time.”
Robin knew the pace was torturing him. He was already worried about the delays in finding out where this man Govannon was. Any more obstacles would cause the normally even-tempered knight to snap.
“She likes apples,” Ada offered from where she sat in the saddle. “We could throw some down in the path to make her chase them.”
“That will work till we run out of apples,” Tav muttered.
Robin had an idea. She grabbed one apple from the sack on the cart—the biggest, juiciest one she could find. She saw a sapling growing near the path and severed a long, thin branch, then speared the apple on the end. Taking the goat’s leading rope, she walked back to Ada. Handing her the branch, she said, “Your job is to keep the apple within the goat’s sight and out of its mouth. Understand?”
Ada’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
Robin remounted and waited until Octavian did the same. “Let’s move on.”
The method of teasing the goat with the apple worked well. Ada found the game highly diverting, and Tav’s mood went from grumpy back to his usual calm manner.
By late afternoon, they could smell smoke in the air, the first sign that the town was near. When they began to hear some distant sounds of shouting and a dog barking, Octavian rode ahead. “I’ll lead from here,” he said. “Brother Robin, keep your hood up and keep quiet. Ada, remember the secret.”
The girl nodded, her expression serious.
They rode into the town, which boasted a high street with an inn at one end of it, and a mossy stone church at the other. The streets were actually quite busy, with a number of folks going into and out of buildings.
People looked at them, and in particular at Octavian. The expressions on people’s faces spanned everything from curious to disbelieving. One older man called out something in a language Robin didn’t recognize. Then he added another string of incomprehensible words. At last, Octavian smiled and responded.
