Chapter 10

As the carriage rolled down the road, the thought of food did little to lift her spirits, but she knew she would need to keep up their strength.

Reaching down to get into her small bundle, Anna’s hand touched something rough and bulky. She pulled up a picnic basket from which rich aromas began to seep. She put it on the seat beside her and looked around guiltily.

“Should I?” she asked herself wondering if this food was meant for her or the coachman.

Pulling it open she saw loaves of fresh white bread, a still warm chicken, cold meats and cheeses, fresh fruits and bundle after bundle of sweets. Her stomach churned painfully at the smell of so much wonderful food.

Feeling bad, should this be the coachman’s meal, Anna refrained from eating out of the basket and contented herself on the small sweet roll she had purchased in town. She’d managed to conceal a small stash of coins she’d made from taking in extra laundry and mending for her neighbors. When her father had told her she was to be sent away, she could think of nothing better than to purchase this single sweet roll to enjoy on her journey.

Looking between her own simple fare to the basket, she was sorely tempted to set aside her sweet roll and delve into the basket, but decided it would be best to ask the coachman. Just in case.

Lowering the window, Anna leaned out and called the driver to stop.

Slowly, the coach lurched to a standstill and Anna stepped down. The world she saw was a far cry from the city they’d left not that long ago. Rolling hills on one side and deep forests on the other made Anna feel as if she were riding a line between two worlds.

Walking to the front of the coach, she looked up at the coachman’s box.

“I’m sorry sir,” she said, holding up the basket of food, “but I found this basket of food and thought you might like your lunch. We’ve been traveling for quite a while.”

When he didn’t move, Anna stepped on the wheel, pulling herself up and handed him the basket.

“Thank you ma’am,” he said, not taking the offered parcel. “The truth is that my master sent that basket for you.”

Taken slightly aback, Anna still offered the food hamper.

“That may be, in which case my conscience is much lighter, but you should not be without something to eat yourself. Please,” she sighed, taking out a large loaf of bread wrapped in a handkerchief, “take this.”

With only the slightest of hesitation, he reached out his gloved hand and took it from her.

“Thank you,” he said. “You’d best get back in, we still have a long way to go.”

With a smile and a nod, Anna lowered herself to the ground and re-entered the carriage. After indulging in the basket eating more than she had in months, she drifted off to sleep, lulled by the soft bumping and rolling of the carriage as it rolled ever on.