Page 21 of The Noble Servant

“The roaring sound is getting louder. I feel as though I might be walking to my doom.”

“The sea is no danger to you if you do not plunge into it.”

She had no intention of plunging into it, and she’d be sure to watch her step as they drew near to the edge of the wooded area. A bright patch of blue-and-white sky lay ahead, and something else quite blue. Was that the sea?

She walked carefully as they stepped on sticks and rocks under and among the leaves. Finally, they moved out of the trees onto a narrow strip of land.

“Oh.” A bright expanse of water stretched out before her, and ... it never ended. It seemed to meet the sky a long way out, as if there were nothing else on the earth except sky and water.

“Be careful.” The shepherd extended his arm toward her. “The cliff is just ahead, as you can see, and it is a long way down.”

Her eyes devoured everything in front of her, and yet they did not seem any closer to getting their fill.

“To the left you can see that the cliffs curve around, and they are white where they face the ocean,” he said. “There is sand at the bottom, where it meets the water.”

“It is perfectly miraculous. I never imagined it would look like this.” She pressed her hand against her chest, as if to prevent her heart from beating too hard. “The water is so ... beautiful.”

Her life stretched out in front of her, just as this shimmering ocean did. She had left her childhood behind and was free of her mother’s suffocating control for the first time. Magdalen’s life could be used for so much more than trying to avoid her mother’s anger. Life could be beautiful, surely, could be worthwhile and inspiring, and she could accomplish good things, for herself and for others.

Steffan was watching her, a slight smile on his face.

“Now I see what is making that roaring sound.” She took another step toward the edge and looked down. “The waves crashing against the land.”

He nodded. His face was expressionless as he stared out at the vast waters.

She let her gaze roam over the white cliff faces and the sand below. Together with the powerful ocean waves, she suddenly felt as if anything was possible. Though she was in an unexpected and difficult situation, God would empower her to do things she never imagined when she was living a small, insignificant life.

Steffan said, “I have been blessed to grow up in a place where I am surrounded by both forests and the sea.”

“Mallin has only mountains and mines—empty copper mines. And we have lakes where the geese love to swim and live.” Absently, she said, “The lake waters must make them feel safe from predators. Too bad the geese at Wolfberg have no lake to swim in.”

“Speaking of geese, we should get back to our animals.” He took one last look below, then turned and they headed back through the trees.

His face was difficult to read, especially with that beard and the way his brows drew together. She was just about to tell him how much she loved the ocean and the cliffs when they came out of the trees and into the open meadow. The geese and sheep were intermingling, grazing peacefully together.

Steffan the shepherd groaned. “Evil birds. What are they doing among my sheep?” He raised his arms. “Shoo, you cruel little beasties.”

But instead of scaring the geese away from the sheep, his display seemed to spook the sheep who bleated and became even more commingled with the geese.

Steffan threw up his hands again, starting to walk away.

Magdalen laughed.

He turned wide eyes on her. “There is nothing funny about these vile creatures. What if they attack the sheep and send them running? They could all plunge off the cliff to their deaths.”

“That isn’t likely, is it?” Her stomach twisted at the thought. It was true, the geese could start flapping their wings and honking. They were rather frightening when they did that, and they could bite.

A grim look on his face, he stepped sideways, placing his body between the sheep and the trees and, ultimately, the cliff.

“Perhaps I can separate them.” Magdalen took her long, thin stick and moved cautiously so as not to frighten the sheep. She urged one of the geese to move, a bit at a time, until she had herded it away from the sheep. But twenty-nine more geese still infiltrated the sheep flock.

Gradually, painstakingly, she managed to coax all the geese out from among the sheep and into their own side of the meadow. Meanwhile, Steffan talked to the sheep.

“Do not worry,” he said in a soothing tone, “just keep eating your grass.” He kept his body between them and—to judge by his expression—certain death. “Stay where you are. No running off, now. That’s a good flock.”

“How long have you been tending sheep?” she asked as she separated the last goose from the sheep.

“I am an inexperienced shepherd. Is that what you are trying to say?”