Aleswina looked over her shoulder as she left the campsite and followed Annwr down the pathway to the river.
She had left the palace nursery where she’d spent the first thirteen years of her life caring only that Anna was with her. She had run from the convent that had been her home since then without a backward glance. Now she regretted every step back to the boat, convinced that she would never again be as happy as she had been nestled against Anna and listening to Caelym singing the story about Gwendolwn and the baby bear.
Back in the boat, she watched the trees along the banks change from oaks to birches and from birches to alders, her confidence waning as her dread of being discovered returned.
“Pull out there!”
Turning around, Aleswina saw Annwr pointing to a gap in the left bank where a creek came in to join the river. In the same moment, she was pitched to the side as Caelym jerked back on his left oar and leaned forward on his right, spinning the boat so the prow pointed straight up the side channel. She managed to catch hold of the sides in time to keep from falling over backwards when he heaved hard on both oars, sending the boat shooting up the mouth of the stream.
Caelym tucked the oars in as the boat surged forward and leaped out, calling, “The rope!”
“Toss him the rope!”
Aleswina did as Annwr said and got the line close enough to Caelym’s feet that he was able to pick it up and drag them the last of the way out of sight from the river.
“Hurry along, Dear Heart!” Annwr urged, and Aleswina forced herself to climb out of the boat, trying desperately to think of some reason to stay in hiding.
“We need to put the packs in the bushes!” Annwr’s next words were directed to Caelym, who grumbled that he hadn’t been planning to leave them out for thieving Saxons as he picked up the larger one and shoved his way through the undergrowth.
“What if someone finds our things and steals the jewels?” Hoping what she knew was a feeble excuse would work, Aleswina took hold of Annwr’s hand and stammered, “M-maybe you and I should stay here and guard packs while Caelym goes and finds out where his little boys are.”
“That is a most excellent suggestion!” Caelym emerged from the bushes, nodding vigorously. “You both stay here and guard the jewels, and I will go and find where Benyon’s kin live and bring him and my sons back and we will go on then to our own destinies!”
“I understand, Dear Heart,” Annwr murmured, as if Caelym hadn’t spoken. “Those jewels belonged to your mother, and even though they would be safe here, we will bring them along—only remember you must let no one see that you have them.
“And”—she shot a dark look in Caelym’s direction—“we’ll all go together so none of us get lost.”
It took no more than moments for Annwr to crawl into the bushes, recover the jewelry, and make her way out again. She tucked the packet into Caelym’s satchel, swatting his hand away when he reached for it.
“I am a healer,” he attempted to protest, “I go nowhere without my—”
“You are a monk!” she retorted sharply. “You carry your bowl and staff! Codric is your serving boy! He carries the bag!” She gave Aleswina an encouraging smile and a loving pat on the cheek, then handed her the satchel. “Come along, Dear Heart, it’s time to go.”
Biting down on her lower lip, Aleswina took the bag, hung it over her shoulder, and followed Annwr and Caelym as they scrambled up the side of the ravine and onto a bluff.
“That’s it! That’s the road!” Caelym pointed down the hill to a wagon track just as Annwr hissed, “Get back! There’s someone coming.”
Instead of backing into the cover of the trees, Caelym dropped down and crawled forward on his belly to part the grass and watch the horse cart pass below. Annwr stayed behind a tree, and Aleswina stayed behind Annwr until the clopping of the horse’s hooves and rattle of wagon wheels died away.
“Now!” Caelym sprang up. Holding his staff in one hand and the wooden bowl in the other, he forged his way down the slope through waist-high brush.
“Wait for us!” Annwr called after him as she grabbed Aleswina’s hand and pulled her along. When they reached the road, Caelym brushed the leaves and twigs from his robe while Annwr straightened her veil and shook her skirt.
With a final, “Remember you’re a monk and keep quiet!”— which Caelym answered by opening and then closing his mouth with a snap—Annwr started off.
Aleswina tucked Caelym’s satchel under her arm and fell in step with the other two as they trudged first down a dip in the road and then up to the top of a rise. From there the road sloped down again, and they could see the horse cart that had passed them cross over a bridge and draw to a halt as two guards armed with pikes came out of the guard station. They were too far off the hear what the driver or the guards were saying, but close enough to see the guards pull the cover off the cart and thrust their spears into the straw before they let the wagon move on.
“We’re on a quest for the bishop!” Caelym muttered between clenched teeth without slowing down.
“A mission! You’re a monk! You’re on a mission! And you’ve taken a vow of silence!” Annwr hissed as she rushed after him.
Left with no choice but to go along, Aleswina made her feet move forward. From somewhere in her frightened mind she heard the voice of the abbess reciting, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
Repeating, “I will fear no evil,” to herself, she followed Annwr across the bridge and past the guards, and even managed to say, “God bless you,” in a low voice that only quivered a little when, instead of charging a toll, the guards each tossed a penning into Caelym’s wooden bowl, and the more ferocious-looking one said, “Welcome to Welsferth.”