Sir James walked out of the barn carrying a coiled rope and a wooden bucket. Hannah decided he’d strike the mule over the head with the bucket and then tie the animal so it couldn’t run. Instead, he held the bucket in front of him and talked softly to the mule. It eyed Hannah and made a wide circle, coming to a stop in front of the knight. It dipped its muzzle into the bucket and chewed a mouthful of grain as he gently slipped the rope over its head.
“It wouldn’t come to me,” she snapped. “You should have hit it with the bucket.”
“You just have to get its attention.” He said, not allowing the smile threatening to grow to get any wider. “Much like when dealing with little girls.”
Inside the barn, he did short work of putting the mule in the harness. The farmer barely watched them. He glanced at one thing for a while, then another as if he couldn’t make up his mind what he wanted to see. He didn’t speak.
Sir James said, “Wait here.”
When he didn’t return as quickly as expected, she worried. When he entered the barn again, he wore old, patched, clothing, and a hat made of straw. He carried a small blanket like a bag, the contents weighing down the middle. It went into the wagon bed.
“Stealing his clothing, food, and what else?”
“Inside on the table is a bill of sale for the two horses and saddles we’re leaving here. They’re worth much more than this old wagon and mule.”
“Except he didn’t want to sell them in the first place. Now the farmer will have to find a buyer and replace his wagon and mule.”
“I also left him my only coin, a large silver worth enough to buy most of this farm. I saved it for an emergency. And I left my apology.”
“Okay, I guess he’ll be fine. Now, how are we going to do this?”
Sir James pointed to the hay stored in the loft. “You’re going up there and pitch down a small load.”
“While I am up there doing all the work, what will you be doing?”
“Oh, my job will be to spread it around in the wagon.”
She went up the ladder a step at a time, casting him more than one glare, but in truth, she wanted to see what might be up there. At the top, she found dried hay and little else. She went to the edge and found the wagon directly under it, the Knight standing ready to ‘spread it around.'
She hid her impulsive grin by ducking quickly and gathering up as large an armful as she could carry, then she tossed it over the edge, on top of where Sir James stood.
“You missed me,” he called, laughing like the funniest thing he’d ever seen just happened, and perhaps it did. He’d known she would try that, so he moved away. That made her smile, too. He was good natured and had a sense of humor. He’d need one to raise her, she decided. In only a couple of days, he’d figured out that she was not the usual little girl who unquestioningly did what she was told. The next several armloads fell into the wagon, and he used the pitchfork to spread it over the bed of the wagon.
“That should be plenty,” he called, and she scampered down the ladder.
She said, “You knew I’d throw that hay at you. How? Did I give myself away?”
“Nope,” he said smugly. “It’s because that’s what I would have done at your age.”
They both laughed. She looked at the farmer. “Will he be okay?”
“The dogs will look after him.”
“How is this going to work?” She asked again.
“Well, I’m not sure. The spell is supposed to make people look in other directions, not at you. I don’t know what it’ll do to me.”
She looked at the folded envelope in his hand. “You won’t be able to see me?”
“Not if it works, I guess. I never thought of that until now.”
She moved to his side. “Sprinkle half of it on me. Save the rest for tomorrow.”
He held it over her head allowed it to fall and spread over her as he observed intently. “I don’t think it’s working.”
“Maybe because you were watching? Look over there,” she pointed.
He turned, and she stepped back three steps and stood still. When he turned around, he looked to her left, right, and in front of her. His eyes searched the far corners of the barn, but each time they came near her they darted away as if scared. “Where are you?”
“Right here,” she said.
His eyes moved all around, but never once focused on her. “It’s working, but I never saw anything like it. Imagine an army sprinkled with that stuff.”
“Do you always think about war and stuff?”
“I do,” he said, reaching out his hand and touching her. “I’m a warrior. We’ll have to be careful of this. People can hear and touch you, so keep that in mind. Don’t sneeze or get into a position where they can touch you. Now, climb into the wagon bed and we can be on our way.”
She climbed in and spread the hay for a soft place to lay, then covered herself with a thin layer.
“You might want to cover yourself with some hay, just in case,” he said.
“That’s a good idea,” she giggled as he made a clucking sound with his tongue to entice the mule into leaving the barn. Being not seen might be more fun than she imagined. Soon they were on the road, the mule moving at a pace slower than she walked. A few farmers working their fields waved, but the road remained empty. They left the valley and entered another, larger one. As the trees thinned at the head of the valley, two men leaped from the cover of boulders at the side of the road, each holding a knife.
“Hold it right there,” one said, placing himself in front of the mule. The other stood beside the Knight without any idea of the danger he was in. Hannah knew the Knight could kill him before he knew the attack happened.
“What’s going on?” Sir James asked, his voice shaking as if scared.
“We’re looking for a girl about eleven or twelve. Straw-colored hair and a turned up nose. She might be with a big man such as yourself.” He glanced at the bed of the wagon, his face close enough for her to reach out and touch. Hannah held her breath so he wouldn’t hear her.
“I haven’t seen anyone on my farm for days.”
The one holding the mule asked, “Any gold or silver on you?”
The Knight said, “Sure thing. My farm has so much gold in the fields my plow can’t turn over the ground in spring. If I had any coins would I be in this old wagon? And that mule?”
“Let him go. It’s plain he’s poorer than us,” the other highwayman said. He reached into the purse at his hip and pulled a small copper coin free and tossed it to the Knight, who snatched it from the air as if he had no coins, which was true. Both of the highwaymen laughed at the gesture.
“He needs it more’n us.” They both laughed again, and the Knight joined in.
The wagon rumbled on down the road, and the two highwaymen slipped back into the trees to wait for their next victim. When they were out of earshot, Sir James said, “This is the King’s Road. He has not been doing a good job of protecting travelers from what I see.”
“Isn’t that part of your job?” she asked. “You’re the King’s hand, my father said. This seems like another job you’re not doing well. And my nose is not turned up, as he said.”
He paused, “I agree, it is my job now. The day we arrive at the palace there will be knights and squires dispatched to clear these roads of trash like them. I had no idea there were that many of them.”
“Put a bounty on them. Like they did on me.”
Sir James glanced over his shoulder. “Remind me never to cross you, my princess.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN