Kup had tried to turn around and look at Yvonne for the fourth time that day. In the unsprung wagon, the movement nearly sent him tumbling off. The unhulled grain in the sack beneath him felt prickly, keeping him from shifting around.
It wasn't that he was interested in the little girl who had appeared out of nowhere. He just kept sensing a gaze from beneath the hood of the small cloak at the back of the wagon, watching him from time to time.
Whenever he returned her gaze, it quickly disappeared, turning instead to the dust-covered bushes along the road and the unchanging scenery they had been passing all day.
Once the novelty of arriving in a strange land wore off, the drab little leaves and nearly identical hillsides became tiresome. The winding, uneven road muddled his sense of direction, giving him the impression they were going around in circles.
With no animal-drawn vehicles specifically meant for passengers, they had spent a little money at the river port to hitch a ride on two grain wagons that weren't full. They were headed along a dirt road that looked more naturally formed than deliberately paved toward a place called "Gravel Town."
These small carts, pulled by a single mule, were built to meet basic transportation needs. They were slow and cumbersome, and there was no telling how much longer it would take to reach their destination.
The journey was torture both physically and mentally. Kup wanted to shout and vent his frustration, just to see if this accursed valley would even give him an echo. But Kraft was sitting in the same wagon, leaning against a sack beside the driver and swaying along with the cart. As his Squire, Kup had to keep himself in check.
Fortunately, the journey finally