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Gabriel cupped her cheek tenderly and ran his thumb back and forth over her skin. “Poor darling. Don’t fret; your husband will take care of you.”
Evie looked up at Gabriel’s worry-filled eyes.My husband.
“Come.” He put his hand over Evie’s shoulder and led her away.
Gabriel seated her on the trunk of a tree a few feet away from the fair and placed the valises close to her feet.
“Stay here. I’ll go fetch us some food,” he said absently as he looked over the tents.
As soon as Gabriel left, Evie stretched out her legs and groaned. She rotated her neck and shook out her sore arms. This journey had been torture, and they were only halfway through. On the other hand, she was glad to get a few more days with Gabriel. She sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun was still up but ready for its eventual descent.
She sat on the trunk watching as people laughed, chatted, and enjoyed the fair. She tapped her foot in time to the music that was playing on the other side of the tents. Her thoughts were somewhere far away. Suddenly, she noticed a shadow covering her, and she looked up to see an old gypsy woman standing in front of her.
“Do you want to know your fortune?” she asked in a harsh, gravelly voice.
“No, but thank you.” Evie bit her lip as she stared into the eyes of the gray-haired, colorfully dressed old woman. She was thin but well-dressed. She was clearly not a beggar. Nevertheless, Evie knew that most of the villagers relied on fairs as their big earning nights. She searched through her purse and found a shilling. “Feel free to take this, though.” She placed the shilling into the woman’s hand.
The older woman grabbed her by the wrist and turned her hand palm up. “You give me money”—she took the shilling into her hand but didn’t let go of Evie’s wrist—“I give you your fortune. No charity!”
“Very well,” Evie agreed, her lips twitching.
The woman regarded her palm curiously. “You had bad fortune recently.Bad.” She emphasized the word with a shudder. “Someone wants what you have.” She looked at Evie and nodded menacingly. “Bad people. You have an angel looking out for you. But be careful, girl. Bad people will want to take your angel away. You need protection.” The woman handed her a little cloth with a design of an eye in a triangle. “Come by the tent; we shall pick you protection, especially for you.”
“Thank you.” Evie smiled at the woman, recognizing the oldest ploy of fortune-tellers. Predict bad luck and sell a trinket as a protection. “I shall stop by the tent,” she lied.
The older woman nodded, pacified, and walked away.
Gabriel rejoined Evie in a few minutes with meat pies, a couple of apples, and two mugs of ale.
“I wanted to grab us some fish pies,” he teased, handing her a portion of the food. “But opted for a minced lamb instead.”
He settled on the tree trunk across from her and took a bite of a pie.
“Mmm…” he moaned in satisfaction.
Evie smiled at his obvious enjoyment of food and bit into her own piece. She was starving, so she ate in silence, breathing in the fresh air, listening to the faraway music. Her mood brightening after a few bites of food, Evie swayed intact with the music while she ate.
“Dancing already?” Gabriel grinned at her. “I’d take you for a dance, but I’m afraid it won’t be that easy with the valises hanging off both my arms.” He gestured toward their luggage.
“That’s all right. I’d much rather we find a place to sleep.”
“Right.” Gabriel finished the last bite of his pie, dusted off his hands, and got up. “Should we go looking for an inn, then?”
Evie swallowed her own last piece of pie as she nodded. She got up and shook off her skirts. “Do you need help with the valises? I can carry one.” She reached for her own valise, but he brushed off her hand.
“You are offending my gentlemanly sensibilities.” He took both of the valises in one hand and offered her the other.
As they walked through the crowd, they caught a few curious glances their way. Evie smiled and greeted the villagers politely, but she was not certain they recognized her in her bedraggled state. She had wrapped Jane’s shawl as a turban over her head for good measure. She loved the villagers, she truly did, but she would rather not answer the uncomfortable questions now, as tired as she was.
After passing several inns, they reached one where a woman checked out just as they entered.
“The room is being cleaned,” the inn owner said to them. “As soon as we put some fresh linens on it, you’ll be able to settle in.”
“Good. Excellent. Would you be so kind as to order us a bath as well?”
As the inn proprietor nodded, Gabriel handed him their valises and asked him to place them in their room as soon as it was ready. He then turned to Evie. “Well, it looks like our room won’t be ready for some time. How about a dance?”
Evie was too tired to dance, but she wouldn’t refuse Gabriel in a million years. “Absolutely.”
