“So take me with you.” The idea had been playing in her mind all day, but she’d meant to slowly ease Alex into it, not drop it on him like a blacksmith’s anvil. “I can—” She’d started to tell him that she could draw, but he cut her off.
“Absolutely not! Under no circumstances. No, no, and no.” He strode ahead of her toward the boardinghouse.
“But—” She caught up with him. “Maybe going with you would be better than staying here alone and unprotected.”
“No. Going into uncharted territory where every corner reveals a new danger is not better than staying here in safety. And I don’t want to hear another word about it.” As he opened the door to the boardinghouse, he gave Cay a look that said he wasn’t going to listen to anything she had to say.
Cay put her shoulders back and walked inside ahead of him. She wanted to make a sharp retort, but she was instantly overwhelmed by the two girls they’d seen outside when they rode into town.
“We knew it was you,” one said, her eyes wide as she looked at Cay. “I told Alice that you’d be staying with us.”
They were twins, looking to be identical, and not especially attractive. They wore dresses that had been washed many times and were faded. Next to them, Cay, in her beautifully embroidered waistcoat, looked resplendent.
“You’re the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen,” the second girl said as she slipped her arm through Cay’s.
The first girl took Cay’s other arm. “Come into the dining room and we’ll feed you. You’re very thin.”
“Is it true that you’re going to be staying with us for months and months?”
Cay looked over her shoulder at Alex, her eyes begging him to rescue her, but he was smiling in a way that she’d come to know well. He was thoroughly enjoying her discomfort—and glad she’d be occupied for a while.
“I have some things that I need to take care of,” he said, his voice full of laughter. “I’ll see you later, little brother. Have a good evening.”
Cay sent him a look that said she’d get him back for leaving her, but he just smiled broader as he left, closing the door behind him.
The second she was alone with the two young girls, they bombarded her with questions.
“How old are you?”
“Where does your family live?”
“Are you married? Engaged?”
“What’s your favorite food? I’m an excellent cook.”
“I saw you riding a horse. I like horses, too. I think we have a lot in common.”
“Are you really going to stay for months? We can go riding together every day. Just the two of us. Alone. I’ll take a picnic lunch, and if we get lost we can stay out all night.”
When the girl who’d made this offer started caressing Cay’s hand, she snatched it back and sat down at the dining table.
“Out!” came a voice from behind her. “Both of you get out of here this minute and leave this young man alone.”
Turning, Cay say a woman standing in the doorway, a plate of food and a mug in her hands. She was tall and handsome, but she was a bit old to be considered pretty. Cay guessed her to be in her early thirties, but there was a look in her eyes that made her seem older, as though she’d seen and done too much in her short life.
As she set the food in front of Cay, she gave the girls a threatening look, and reluctantly, they left the room.
“I apologize for them,” the woman said. “We don’t get too many young men staying here, and I’m afraid they went a bit overboard. I’ll do my best to keep them away from you while you’re here.”
On Cay’s plate was a roast bird that didn’t look like a chicken or any other flying creature that she’d ever seen, and she wondered what they hunted in this country.
Tentatively, she picked up the knife and fork that the woman had handed her and began to eat. It was good.
“I’m Thankfull,” the woman said as she sat down across from Cay.
Cay almost said, Thankful for what? but she didn’t. She’d been around Alex for so long that she almost made jokes about everything. “How did you know I was staying here?”
Thankfull’s mouth twitched in humor. “The boy Tim came here to have his nose seen to. It’s a good thing you aren’t going with them or he’d give you trouble.”