Page 16 of Castle of Refuge

When Audrey realized the woman was not going to talk to her, she cleared her throat and said, “I wonder if you will trade some bread for this dress.”

Audrey held up the fine linen dress for the woman to see, showing that it fit Audrey. It looked too small for the woman, who was rather well-endowed in the bust and was possibly with child.

Audrey said quickly, “You could take the seams apart and make a bliaud out of it—put little ties on the sides—and wear it with a chemise.”

The woman looked her dress up and down. Then without answering she turned and called out, “John! Can I give this woman some bread for her dress?”

“What?”

Audrey’s knees trembled at the angry tone in the male voice. He emerged into the open doorway behind the counter. He stared first at Audrey, then at the woman.

“She wants to give me her dress for some bread.”

“It is very fine material,” Audrey said quickly. “Very soft. Would you like to touch it?” She held out the dress to them.

Neither of them reached for it. He looked at his wife, as Audrey now assumed the woman was, and she shrugged her shoulders. Then he looked back at Audrey.

“Very well,” he said. “Take two loaves—or three, if you want.”

Truly, the dress was worth more than twelve loaves of bread, but she couldn’t bring herself to say so or to ask for money in addition to the bread.

“Thank you.” Audrey’s hand shook as she held out the dress to the woman. They watched as Audrey took three loaves of bread and stuffed them into her bag.

Audrey’s hand was still shaking as she walked out of the shop and pinched off a piece of bread and put it in her mouth. She was hungrier than she’d ever been. Walking for hours, and the terrifying encounter with the two robbers, had made her famished.

But now she had enough bread for three days. If only she had some cheese or meat to go with it, or even some nuts or fruit. She kept walking, wondering how soon it would be before the two women who saw her scars told everyone in the village about her cursed ear, or the man and woman at the bread shop told everyone about the strange woman who gave them a dress in exchange for three loaves of bread.

She continued walking down the road and people stopped what they were doing to stare at her. If those men had not stolen her horse, she could have ridden through the village in no time. She’d never realized how good it was to ride, fast and high above the road, rather than having to walk everywhere she went.

She saw the well in the center of the village and was reminded how dry and parched her lips were, how her throat ached with thirst. Thankfully no one was drawing water at the moment. She took the communal bucket and sent it to the bottom, heard the splash, then drew it back up. She grabbed the dipper and used it to take a long drink of the cold water.

Perhaps she should trade something for a water flask that she could take with her. After all, one could live without food longerthan without water, and she did not know how often she’d be able to find water.

She drank until she was afraid she might get sick, then put the bucket and the dipper back in their places, hanging from hooks on the side of the well.

She pretended not to notice all the people watching her as she walked away. An old man with a donkey pulling a cart loaded with hay was heading toward her.

“I don’t recall seeing you before,” he said, his gray beard trembling as he talked.

“I am just passing through,” Audrey said.

“Where are you going? By yourself? Is no one with you?”

“I shall be well, I thank you.” She smiled and nodded as she hurried past him.

But would she be well? She’d already been robbed. But she wouldn’t allow worry to pull her down. She had bread in her bag and she would be at her aunt and uncle’s house in a few days—she was not certain how long it would take to walk there. She could at least get some food and supplies from them even if they weren’t willing to let her stay there without telling her father where she was. She could run away before her father arrived.

What she needed was a job. But she needed to get farther away from Father and Maris before she inquired about employment. And find a larger village where strangers weren’t so rare and didn’t garner so much attention and curiosity.

Audrey made her way outside of the village and sat down under a tree with her back against the trunk. There she ate her bread, still wishing she had at least some butter to spread on it.

She’d never thought about it before, but not having enough food was a terrible condition. How many people in the world didn’t have enough? She’d never had that problem, living in her father’s castle, with plenty of everything a girl could want—food three times a day, clothes, and a warm fire. What must it be like to be poor? Her father gave away food to the poor on Christmas and a few other holy days through the year—it was required by the Church—but she’d never thought about how those poor people found food the rest of the year.

Audrey stood, her legs aching, and stretched out her back. How soon would her shoes wear out? She could tell the soft leather soles were already wearing thin. Could she walk in bare feet?

“Lean not on your own understanding,” she whispered to herself. “God, I will trust in You to take care of me.”

She walked the rest of the day without finding a stream or another village. She began to wonder if she’d left civilization behind. But finally, just at sunset, she came to another crossroads at the outskirts of a village. If she went left, she would go through the village, and since she was parched, her throat as dry as sand, she went in that direction.