Sage lifted her gaze to her, her brow lifting doubtfully. That didn’t make sense. Why would he have a book if he had no use for it?
Willow shrugged. “Maybe he knew I’d give it to you.”
Sage glanced around, expecting Christian to be hiding somewhere. “Where is he?”
“He left.”
“He handed this book to you and left?” Sage asked suspiciously.
Willow nodded.
“Is he coming back?”
Willow half shrugged. “I don’t think so. I mean...I really have no way of knowing. He didn’t say he was.”
Sage stared at Willow for a long moment. Something was suspicious. Why would Christian give Willow a book? It would mean nothing to her. But it meant the world to Sage. The book beckoned to her, and she looked at it again.
“We should probably figure out what it says. Do you know anyone who can read the book?” Willow asked.
Sage looked down at the letters on the parchment page. Already, her mind was trying to solve the puzzle, to sound out some of the words. “Possibly. Remember Brother Nicolas from Chateau le Bezu?”
Willow shook her head.
“It was a long time ago, and you were young. Chateau le Bezu is only half a day’s ride from here. Father is working on a job and won’t be back until sunset tomorrow.” She stroked the black leather book admiringly. “We could be back before sunset, and he would never know.”
Willow was silent for a long moment.
The silence stretched until Sage looked up at her.
“Father will not be pleased if he finds out,” Willow said carefully.
Sage’s lip curved up into a grin. “We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t find out.”
“What about Raven?”
Sage bit her lower lip as she considered what to do about Raven. Her older sister was a stickler for rules. Raven always followed their father’s orders. Sage shook her head. “She won’t like it.”
“No,” Willow agreed. “And we shouldn’t tell her about Christian. She won’t approve. She never liked him. We can tell her I found the book.”
“Good idea.” Sage agreed and looked down at the book. She eased it closed and put her hand protectively over the cover. “We could go without her and—”
Willow shook her head, frowning in disapproval. “Wehaveto tell her. She’ll want to come with us.”
“No. Absolutely not,” Raven said, crossing her arms as she stood outside the inn, facing her sisters. “Father wouldn’t want us traveling the roads without him.” Raven stalked across the yard toward the wooden stables. Her black braid swung back and forth behind her as she moved as if it were a finger wagging negatively.
“He doesn’t have to know,” Willow pleaded, following her across the yard.
Sage reluctantly trailed, holding the book to her chest. She had known Raven would react like this. As the oldest of the sisters, Raven had always been second in charge, behind their father. Raven was used to Sage and Willow following orders.
Raven whirled on Willow. “Don’t you think Sybil will tell him we didn’t help her with the harvest and that we were missing for an entire day?”
Willow cast an imploring glance at Sage for help.
“We’ll make something up,” Sage told her. “That we were out hunting.”
“All day?” Raven asked in disbelief. She put a hand on her hip. “And what do we say when we come back with nothing?”
“We didn’t find anything,” Willow added to the story.
