“I am sorry for intruding on your day.” Jorgen held a tree limb out of the way so she could pass. “I did not know who else to ask, and I know you care about people, especially orphans.”
“I had nothing to do today anyway.” Except sleep.
“I do thank you. I hope she didn’t leave while I was gone.”
She wasn’t the only one who cared. Jorgen obviously cared, too, so much that his forehead was creased just thinking about her leaving.
A sudden thought sent a strange pain through her. Did Jorgen feel something for this girl, some attachment or attraction?
She should not even have such a thought. The girl was only fourteen. Of course, fourteen-year-olds often married, and they married much older men. Usually it was for the gain of their fathers, but it was not unheard of for a man of Jorgen’s age to marry a fourteen-year-old girl. But this girl was in a bad predicament and her situation was pitiable indeed. Odette should be thinking only of helping her.
They reached the old gamekeeper’s cottage, and she thought it looked pleasant, with flowers growing all around it and a roof so neatly thatched it was like a hat made of one piece of cloth.
Jorgen opened the front door, calling, “Mother? Kathryn? I have brought my friend Odette to see you.”
Odette followed him inside. The front part of the house was one long room, complete with a hearth and a table and stools. A few comfortable-looking chairs stood at the other end of the room. Some colorful tapestries decorated the walls, and the windows were thrown open to let in the light. It was a homey kind of place that smelled of freshly baked bread.
“Mother?”
“Coming!” a voice called from down the open corridor at the back of the room. A moment later, an older woman with sagging cheeks and a pleasant smile appeared in the corridor connecting the front room to the rest of the house. She turned and motioned to someone behind her. “Come, come.”
A young maiden stepped forward to stand beside the elderly woman. She met Odette’s eye for a moment, then looked down.
“Odette, this is my mother and Kathryn. And this is Odette.”
Kathryn did not look up at her, but Odette could see enough of her face to know that she had been crying.
Jorgen’s mother grasped Odette’s hand in both of hers and squeezed it. She was only as tall as Odette’s shoulder and rather plump. “I thank you for coming, my dear. Was it a very long walk?”
“Not so long.”
“Shall I fetch you some milk? We have our own cow, so it is fresh, and we have a little underground storage house by the stream that keeps it cool.”
“That sounds good. Perhaps Jorgen and Kathryn would like some too?”
“I will help you, Mother.” Jorgen gave Odette a look, then went with his mother.
Kathryn stood unmoving, her head still bowed.
“Will you come and sit with me over here?”
Kathryn gave an almost imperceptible nod and followed Odette to the other end of the room. They sat, each sinking into the feather cushions of the wooden chairs, decoratively built from crooked tree branches. It may have looked rustic, but it was the most comfortable chair she had ever sat in. Kathryn sat with her legs folded underneath her.
“Jorgen tells me his mother is pleased to have you staying here with her. I am sure she gets lonesome, with Jorgen gone most of the time and no other family.”
Kathryn seemed to consider Odette’s words. Perhaps the girl had not thought that she might be serving a purpose by being with Jorgen’s aging mother.
When Kathryn said nothing, Odette went on. “I hope you will stay with her. I have never met her before, but she seems like a kind person.”
After a moment of silence, Kathryn said softly, “She is a kind person. But I do not think I should stay. Jorgen had to give up his bed for me. Besides, I have a debt I need to pay.”
“What sort of debt?”
Kathryn finally looked at her. If she wasn’t mistaken, Odette read resentment in their deep-blue depths. “You would not understand. Sometimes orphans must do . . . bad things to stay alive and get food for their younger siblings.”
“How surprised you would be to know that I do understand. I foraged through other people’s garbage to get food for myself. I had no siblings, but when my mother and father died, I went to live with a neighbor’s family. They did not want me and treated me like a servant. I was five years old. It was not until years later that my uncle came and took me to live with him. I do understand, and you do not owe anyone anything, especially if they want you to do something that makes you feel bad.”