Finding Freedom

Finding Freedom - Part 2 Chapter 2

Luke was a nomad doctor; he and his family traveled from town to town to get patients. They were good enough to live off their job, and seemed happy. They had three horses and a mule to carry the extra supplies.

Luke’s wife Martha was skeptic at the beginning, but after a nice compliment I made she seemed to warm up to me. Their son Dean was a year older than I was, and didn’t seem to care about much that happened around him. The men didn’t ask any questions, but Martha Robins was more inquisitive. After the guys had left she asked a couple questions.

“Where do you come from?”

“I live near Lilyside.” I said.

“And where are you headed?” Martha asked.

“Northanger.” At least I had a clear answer. Maybe that would shush up the voice in her head that must be itching to ask if I was a runaway.

“That’s where we’re going too. Five of the King’s sons are sick with this unknown disease and he’s called every doctor he could put his hands on. You could come with us if you like. I dare say it would do some good to all of us. Luke never was such a good hunter, and I would sure like to have some female company for once.” She invited.

I quickly accepted. Some company would do some good to me too. I wasn’t comfortable being alone in the woods all the time. She seemed to read my mind, because she asked me another question.

“Tell me, why are you alone out here?”

I took a deep breath before answering. I didn’t want to lie to her, she had been so nice to me, but I couldn’t go and tell her I was Heather Baine, could I?

“I ran away.” Might as well get it over with.

She looked at me with surprise. “I thought as much, even if I hoped to be wrong. As much as I disapprove the fact you ran away, the invitation still holds. But as soon as we reach Northanger, our paths must separate. I can see from your clothing and horse that you come from a noble family, they are probably looking for you. I don’t want any problems if they find you with us.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Call me Martha, darling. You should go to sleep, we have a big day ahead of us. We shouldn’t have to stop on the way there, so we ought to be able to cross the Golden Stream in two days.”

I thought about what she had said. The King’s sons… From what I could remember, King Adrian Endlesspath had had six sons with four different wives. The first two wives died giving birth, the third was allergic to nuts and happened to eat some, and as far as I knew the last one was still alive. I wondered which of the sons was still in good health, and why.

In the middle of these complicated thoughts, I fell asleep.

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We rode together the whole next day, chatting about all and nothing. My whole body was sore from all the riding I had done on the previous day, but I didn’t complain. We ate the leftovers of the deer and set our camp for the night. I lay my covers away from the Robins’. Of course Martha had told them everything, but I couldn’t be angry at her. They had the right to know.

I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about what I would do when I got to Northanger. The noise of the crickets singing was reassuring. I had always liked the noise of crickets in the night. The light of the fire was dimming; the Robins had fallen asleep long ago. I looked at their silhouettes wrapped in covers and one of them got up. I wondered what Dean was doing up at this hour. He came up to me and looked at me, unsure. I sat up to show him that I was not sleeping. A smile lit up his face.