Glancing around the woods as he moved silently through them Cam briefly debated what to do about their meal. He could catch a rabbit, or hunt down that pheasant who had scared her out of the tree, or even catch fish . . . or he could head to the small village he knew was nearby and fetch them back a meal from the tavern there. While the tavern was small and didn't offer lodging, it did serve some of the finest food he'd found on his travels. In fact, just the thought of his last meal there made his mouth begin to water . . . and that made his decision. The village tavern it was, he decided, and turned his feet in that direction.
It wouldn't take long to walk there and back. It would have been faster on his horse, of course, but he hadn't thought of it while he was in the clearing. Shrugging, he picked up his pace, and distracted himself with wondering what the tavern owner's wife had cooked up that day.
Chapter 4
JO SOAKED THE LINEN IN THE WATER AGAIN and raised it to press against her cheek until the cloth grew warm from her skin. She then glanced fretfully around as she dipped the cloth in the river water again.
Cam seemed to be taking a long time. The sun was almost completely below the horizon, leaving the sky afire with an orange glow that darkened to deep purple around the edges. Night would soon descend and he wasn't yet back.
Perhaps he was having trouble finding game, she told herself, withdrawing the cloth from the water and pressing it to her cheek again. She didn't have anything better to do while she waited.
Cam's mount shifted where he stood and she glanced toward him, stilling when she noted that the beast's ears were pricked. The animal had heard something, she realized, and began to scan the woods around the clearing, her ears straining to catch any telltale sound that someone approached. Still, she was caught by surprise when Cam suddenly stepped out of the trees and crossed the clearing toward her.
"I was beginning to worry," she admitted.
"No need. It just took me longer than I expected," Cam said easily, dropping the bag she hadn't noticed he carried beside her and then kneeling to quickly wash his hands in the water.
"What's this?" she asked curiously, eyeing the bag with interest as some rather heavenly smells wafted from it.
"Open it and see," he suggested, shifting to sit in front of her so that they faced each other, legs crossed.
Jo didn't even hesitate. The smells coming from the bag were amazing.
"That's what took me so long," Cam announced as she peered at the food inside. "The tavern owner's wife was still cooking the chicken when I got there, but promised it would only be a trice before it was done. Her idea of a trice is apparently a lot longer than mine," he added dryly.
"Chicken," Jo almost moaned the word, but then glanced to him with surprise. "The tavern owner's wife?"
"Aye. I have stopped here many times and there is a village a short walk away with a tavern that always has delicious food. Rather than hunt up our meal, and clean and cook it, I thought I'd simply buy it from the tavern keeper's wife and fetch it back. Fortunately, while she was offering stew to the customers, she had a roast chicken for herself and her husband that I was able to convince her to sell me. A lucky thing since I had no idea how I would have fetched stew back here. It would have soaked through the trenchers before I could make it back."
"Aye," Jo murmured, her face practically buried in the bag as she examined the contents; roast chicken, dark bread, cheese and two ripe apples. It all looked and smelled divine.
"Well, what are ye waiting fer?" Cam asked suddenly. "I've been smelling that all the way back from the inn. Get the food out. Ye must be hungry. I ken I'm starved. We've no' eaten since last night."
Jo hesitated, and then set down the bag of food to reach for her medicinal bag. Aware that Cam was watching her with bewilderment, she quickly pulled out some clean dry linen and set it on the ground. Only then did she start to unpack the food from the inn. The strips of linen might not usually be used this way, but she hadn't wanted to set the food on the ground and be spitting out dirt all night. Besides, the linen could be washed afterward.
"How's yer head?" Cam asked, breaking off a drumstick from the chicken and passing it to her.
"A little sore but fine," she answered. She then took the offered meat and murmured, "Thank you."
She waited until Cam had broken off a leg for himself as well and was raising it to his mouth before taking her own first bite of the meat. The moment she did though, her eyes closed on a little moan of pleasure. She'd thought the rabbit was good, but this was positively heaven. Jo swallowed with a sigh and opened her eyes, the drumstick already rising to her mouth again. She wanted to go slow and savor, but didn't think she could. This was possibly the best thing she'd ever tasted in her life. The truth was, while her mother had been a fine healer, she hadn't been much of a cook, and Jo had learned everything she knew from her mother. Even had they been able to afford a whole chicken to roast, which they wouldn't have, she never could have produced a bird as moist and well seasoned as this. And the bread and cheese were just as good, she found as she sampled those. It must be a popular inn indeed if it served such fine food, she decided.
Hungry as they were, and good as the food was, it didn't take them long to clear away the chicken. Joan was done first and settled back to watch Cam finish off the rest of the bird. There was no sense saving any, it would only go bad. That wasn't true of the cheese and bread though, so after a bite or two each, they'd decided to concentrate on the chicken alone and take the cheese, bread and apples with them to eat on the horse at nooning the next day.
"Well," Cam said, swallowing the last bite of chicken. "That was well worth the walk and wait."
"Aye," Jo agreed with a small smile. "Thank you."
"Me pleasure," Cam said and then raised an eyebrow when she got to her feet. "Where are ye off to?"
"To wash chicken grease off me hands and . . . er . . . tend to other matters," she muttered, aware that a boy would have said they were draining the snake or some other such thing.
"How's yer head. Will ye be all right on yer own?" Cam asked with concern.
"I'm fine," she assured him. "My head barely aches anymore."
"Hmm," Cam muttered, and then shrugged and said, "Shout if ye need help."
Jo merely grunted and headed off into the woods around the clearing. She hardly needed help relieving herself. Her head wound really wasn't that bad. The bump was a good size, but not alarmingly large, and the ache really was easing. She suspected she'd been knocked out as much from having the wind knocked out of her when she hit the ground as from the blow to the head. In fact, she hadn't lost consciousness until landing in the dirt with such a jolt.
A rustling in the bushes to her left made Jo slow and glance that way, but it was so dark away from the fire that she couldn't see a bloody thing. It had been lighter last night. There was no moon tonight, she noted glancing up. No stars either and she wondered if the night sky wasn't full of clouds blocking them. Whatever the case, it made her eager to return to camp and their fire, so Jo was quick about her business.
Cam already had his plaid wrapped around him like a blanket when she returned.
He lay down as soon as she stepped into the light cast by the fire and offered her a "Good sleep."
"Good sleep," Jo murmured in return and stretched out on the opposite side of the fire. She was just closing her eyes when she realized she'd forgotten to take a look at his stitches on his return. Sighing, she quickly got back to her feet and moved around to his side of the fire. The moment she blocked the flames and cast shadows on him, Cam opened his eyes. He raised his eyebrows when she stopped before him.
"I need to check your stitches," she said firmly, afraid he would again claim he was fine and try to refuse her.