Free Always Come Home (Emerson 1) by Maureen Driscoll Page B

serve us breakfast?” he asked the
innkeeper.
    The man considered it for a moment. “Well, his
lordship’s man didn’t say nothing against it.”
    “Excellent.”
    “But he didn’t say that I could, neither. And I
have a feeling Lord Clayton would prefer it if I didn’t serve you.”
    “We shall not tell him if you don’t,” said Colin.
    “I guess I can give you breakfast. For a price.”
    Maude timidly approached Colin. “Yer lordship?”
    “Yes?”
    “I don’t think we should do it.”
    “Lord Clayton cannot hurt us anymore, Maude.”
    “It’s not just that.” She looked around as if not
wanting to be overheard. “I just think we should move along down the road a
bit. Please, sir.”
    There was nothing Colin wanted more than to have
something to eat while warming himself at the inn. But Maude seemed adamant
and he hardly wished to reward the innkeeper by paying what he was certain
would be an exorbitant price. Perhaps they would find a tavern further down
the road. It was doubtful, but worth a try.
    The innkeeper looked disappointed to be denied a
chance to cheat them but he also looked anxious to go back to bed.
    Colin and the others continued their journey down
the lane.
    “We’ve but a little more to walk, milord,” said
Maude.
    Colin hoped the girl knew something he didn’t
because if the next village was truly ten miles away, he didn’t consider that
“a little more to walk.”
    They continued onward half a mile past the village,
then Maude turned onto a path that took them up a hill.
    “Maude, where are we going?” asked Colin, hoping she
knew of a shortcut.
    “There’s a place to make a fire up here. It’s where
the farm lads often stop when they take their animals to town. I saw it once
from a wagon. I thought it was right curious at the time. But it also gives
you a view down the road. I reckon it’s a good place to eat and warm ourselves
while we wait for a cart to pass.”
    Too many delectable words assailed Colin’s head at
once: eat, warm, cart.
    “But we have no food, Maude.”
    The girl smiled before pulling back her cape and
displaying a veritable pantry of items.
    Stemple grinned at her. “I thought I was carrying
all your things.”
    “You’re carrying all my clothing. But I have the
food and this.” She pulled out a small cast iron pot. “I always wanted to be
a cook. So whenever the gypsies come through I look for items to buy. I’ve
had this pot for almost a year.” She placed the pot on the iron grill over the
fire pit dug into the hill.
    “Maude, you’re brilliant!” said Ava.
    “I also took scones this morning for the four of
us. ‘Twasn’t stealing,” she quickly added with a look toward Colin. “I reckon
his lordship and Victor was guests, while Ava and I worked there. We was all
entitled to breakfast. I would’ve taken more, but this was all there was.”
    “This is much more than I expected,” said Colin.
“Thank you.”
    “I’m not done yet,” said Maude. “And if one of you
was to start the fire, we could warm ourselves as we wait.”
    “An excellent suggestion,” said Colin. “And one I
should have thought of.” From her look, it seemed Maude quite agreed on both
counts, though she said not a word. “Stemple, do you have any tinder to start
a fire?”
    “I am afraid not, my lord. But perhaps when the sun
comes up we can use my reading spectacles to reflect the rays to light some
dried sticks, if we can find any.”
    “I have a tinderbox,” said Ava, pulling out the
small silver box. “In my travels with father, we had to be prepared for all
eventualities.”
    Colin had to grin. “Stemple, we are being quite shown
up by the ladies and I thank God for it.”
    Stemple grinned, as well, as he took the tinderbox
from Ava. After gathering as many bits of wood as he could, he pulled open the
box, then shielded it from wind as the flint lit the tinder within. He
carefully transferred the flame to the wood, which readily caught fire.