of your route? Earl Simon’s men are no doubt searching for you. You will be safer travelling as our daughter. It may BOSON BOOKS
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take a little longer for you to reach your destination, but you are more certain of doing so."
It was true, thought Judith, that it would be safer. Even after such short acquaintance, she could feel affection for this couple, who had taken her in so readily, and were now ready to risk so much for her sake. It was equally true that Simon’s men would be searching, and that she did not know her way. She had planned simply to follow whichever seemed to be the most heavily-used roads, and head in a north-westerly direction. She was bound to hit the coast at some point if she did so, although she would once again have no idea where she was, unless she asked. Speaking to strangers had so far been attended by the most outrageous luck, but that luck might not stay with her.
She nodded.
"You’re very generous with your help," she said. "I think you know the danger you’ll be in, if you come with me. But it’s true that I do not know my way. Whether I can be your daughter, or your son, is dictated by these clothes I wear and I shall
need
the disguise
once I am alone again."
"Wrapped in your cloak, and seated in the wagon, you will be my daughter," said Isaac.
"A son would ride a horse, and I want to keep you hidden as much as possible. Let’s finish our meal and set off. Brunetta, prepare yourself, and tell the servants to leave the shutters closed all day. Tell them we’re going to sell some of my work in Amiens. When we return this evening, we can say that the road was too bad for us to pass."
Brunetta rose and went to carry out her tasks. Within minutes, she was back, wrapped in a long cloak, and with Judith’s own cloak over her arm. Judith took it from her and wrapped herself in it, in the same fashion, pulling the hood over her head. It was true, she thought, her other clothes were well hidden in the cloak’s fullness.
Isaac soon joined them, similarly clad, and the three of them went out into the yard. The two horses belonging to the household were already standing hitched to a small covered wagon. Judith’s own horse was standing at the back of the wagon, its reins securely fastened to one of the posts which jutted out, so that it was forced to walk behind when they moved off.
A servant was loading bundles into the back of the wagon, as Isaac helped the two women up and settled them on one of the benches placed midway along the sides. He swung himself up beside them, then gestured to another servant who stood beside the horses, to indicate that he should also mount. Grasping the long whip more firmly, the man sprang up easily and sat on the front seat. A flick of the whip, and a shout of encouragement, and the horses stepped forward, pulling the wagon behind them. Judith’s horse taken by surprise, was given no chance to do anything but walk forward with the rest, as the force of movement became irresistible.
Using considerable skill, the servant steered them through the wide passage which divided the house and out into the street. It was still very early in the morning. As far as they knew, only the Hanuchin’s own household witnessed their leaving but they could BOSON BOOKS
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not be sure who might be lurking in the dark side streets that wound away from the main street which would take them out of Abbeville. Nobody spoke as they went on. The sound of the horses’ hooves echoed back from the houses on either side. At any moment, Judith expected to hear a shout, or the sound of more hooves as horses galloped towards them. She sat stiffly, her hands clenched in her lap, as the wagon rocked along.
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CHAPTER SIX
For the first hour they travelled in silence. It was bitterly cold and the darkness was still almost total. The frost, from the night’s dip to even lower temperatures, had not yet begun to melt, and the icy sheen on the ground, combined with the rock hard ruts, made difficult terrain for the horses. Every now and then, one or the other slipped. Judith’s horse seemed surer-footed, perhaps because it had no heavy cart to