A beat of silence rested in the air before he spoke. “You may come with me if you like.”

Jolted by his offer, Anna blinked. What had he said? She opened her mouth, grasping for words, but there were none. Was he in earnest?

His gaze rested upon her, as if searching the response in her face. He must not have liked what he saw, for his expression dropped and he spoke again, the words coming faster. “’Tis not a demand. I do not wish for you to feel I would take you against your will. ’Tis simply that I must go tomorrow, and if it is safety you seek then you shall find it in Sandwich.”

Truly?

She turned the dusty cake in her fingers, her throat thick. The tears welled again, but this time, from gratitude. By grace alone she kept them from falling. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for all you have done. “I would be forever grateful, sir.”

“It is the least I can do.” He smiled then looked to his arm and grimaced.

Anna lowered the cake. “Does it pain you greatly?”

He gave a quick shake of the head, clearly ignoring the question. “What will you do once we reach Sandwich?”

She heard him but let the question rest wearily in the air. Her focus on the man’s wound secured ever more of her attention. She didn’t wish to press the matter, but it niggled. It surely pained him. How could it not? Should she offer to tend it? If she did, would she even know what to do? The red she’d noted on his bandage had turned a muddy brown. At least the flow had stopped. However if infection were to—

“Miss?”

“Hmm?” She met his gaze.

“I asked, what will you do once we reach Sandwich?”

“Oh…” She stared ahead then scrunched her mouth and studied the uneaten morsel in her fingers. “I…I cannot say.” She pressed a hand against the note in her skirt pocket. She had promised Captain Stockton she would get the vital message to the man in Providence, but now, all that was changed. Her need to find the truth of Samuel’s death must wait. But not forever, brother.

Her companion stared at her, she knew, though she didn’t look up. The heat of his gaze radiated against her like the fire between them, as if somehow he had seen the emotions she’d tried so hard to hide. “Should you wish to stay with my friends, I am sure they would be happy to have you until you have decided on the best course for yourself.”

She turned, her gaze colliding with his. She stilled, all thought leaving her mind as the sight of him consumed her. The scruff that shadowed his jaw, the strength and gentleness in his eyes…Anna forced her face forward, praying he didn’t see the heat that bled color into her cheeks.

She inhaled to dispel the momentary lapse in sanity and focused on the matter at hand.

“Miss?”

That warm, inviting sound turned her head around. Anna tried to look away, but his stare pulled against her own and hardened, as if he tried to discover what she might be thinking.

She blinked. Did he mean it? Could she travel with him—trust him? Who were his friends? Would they truly be kind enough to allow her to stay until she determined what she must do?

Anna reached to her chest and felt for the ring that somehow always gave her peace, like a child’s well-loved toy. Her fingers found nothing but skin. The cake fell from her fingers. She whirled from her seat and searched the ground around her chair, but the darkness refused to restore what she’d lost. “Nay, it cannot be gone!”

Panic surged and suddenly the anxieties and fears she’d borne since the moment her father told of his intentions weeks ago fell from her eyes. Tears as large as the drops that continued to fall against the house wet her cheeks. She put a hand to her mouth and bit her tongue to keep the sobs in the cage of her chest.

Warm hands grasped her shoulders. “What cannot be gone?”

Shameful tears trickled over her hand which covered her mouth. She fought to breathe through her nose which thickened with the cries she refused to release. If she opened her lips to speak, even to breathe, she would prove herself the weak, senseless female her father professed her to be.

“Miss?” He bent in front of her, the outline of his figure blurred by the constant rise of moisture. His head tilted and he reached for her shoulder, but stopped just before touching. “I wish to help. If you would tell me what you’ve lost.”

Anna’s spirit crushed with more emotions than she could name—thanks for his kindness, grief at the loss of something so dear, despair that her need for understanding her brother’s death would elude her, despite the efforts she’d given. Foremost, fear that the future of freedom she dreamed for herself would never be realized.

What little courage pulsed from her spirit, she clung to, looking up. “I…” Her voice squeaked from her throat. She looked down, accepting the wave of truth as it crashed against her. “My ring.”

She struggled to her feet. He stayed at her side, one hand cupping her elbow, the other resting against her back as he helped her into the chair.

“I am so sorry.” Not a hint of disgust in his voice. Not a shadow of mockery. He could not possibly be so sincere. But if he was…

Oh, how she wished she could shrink away, fall back into the shadows and forget this terrible display. But her mind refused to cease its obsession over the thing she’d prayed would never occur. Her mother’s ring was gone forever. How could it be otherwise? It had broken from her neck and fallen in the woods during their escape, covered forever by mud and rain.

Just as her mother’s grave had been.

Tags: Amber Lynn Perry Daughters of His Kingdom Historical
Source: readsnovelonline.net