Chapter 1

Being alone was both a blessing and a curse; there was much to do to set up or dismantle camp. Castle life had not made him accustomed to doing everything for himself. Working with several servants, it took near six months to better learn to cook, clean; sew and care for the animals. He never did much at hunting but at least tried. The work was not his only concern; there was a certain amount of loneliness too; you might have gotten that feeling sometime if you were alone very much, especially in a new place; reality may be mixed in with illusion and day dreams, making one often question what your own eyes were seeing.

This happened one day while he was readying breakfast. When he saw her approach he had to give his head a shake several times, for he was not certain if he was still asleep and the vision was a dream or this angel was real. Upon closer inspection it was a young girl he saw but dressed as a peasant. As she came closer Sir Hubert saw she was dirty, almost bedraggled looking; so real, not a dream, looking as she was. Castle life had not really exposed Sir Hubert to how the ‘other’ half had existed, working with the servants had however.

“Kind Sir, would you have just a crust of bread and some water for a poor but honest girl. I would gladly gather wood for you and clean your things in exchange.”

As she got closer Sir Hubert saw not only the poor state of the homespun dress she was in but could almost feel a certain touch of a noble’s character in her bearing. ‘Rare for someone so young ‘ he thought. This girl was no peasant, appearances were deceiving. She spoke not in a condescending manner neither, the way she presented herself though was with grace and charm, yet left no room for one to brook what she asked for.

“You seemed to appear in time to share my meal; not only a crust of bread, Milady but a veritable feast for I have dined too long alone. Come, tell me of your fate and I shall tell you mine.” His words would prove to be more of a prophecy than he could ever imagine. Fate was perhaps a fickle master to some not to all. In between small, considered bites of her meal, she said many things that had multiple meanings. It was as if she spoke but in reality told little of herself. He reckoned that because he had done the same; in the end he had to laugh. “You tell your story much better than I, my complements lass.”

She just looked at him but a trace of a smile crossed her face. Lillian had been watching him since last night. It was not to steal from or bring him to harm but merely observe if she might approach in safety; something she had grown accustomed to do when planning on meeting a stranger. She found no fault in him and further good judgement fell by the wayside when the smell of food being cooked hit her. She had not much to eat in the last several days and was very hungry.

While eating their shared meal, both made a judgement call. Both had made the decision they liked the other, even more than either might have guessed. “If you wish to accompany me in my travels lass, I would like that. If so, we need to outfit you accordingly in the next town or so. Rare to find a squire, page and lady all in one. Even more rare one so beautiful willing to be my friend.” He thought back to the bad aura he had felt these last months at the castle. His words brought a blush to her face. She had washed in the river nearby but still wore her torn peasant clothes. What she wore was of no concern to Sir Hubert or to her.

It took several days but each had fallen into a comfortable routine with each other; sort of an assigned set of daily duties. For him, he was no longer lonely. For her, safety, a warm place to sleep, hot cooked food, shelter from wind and rain and good company were things she had gone without for a long time. Life was looking up for both of them. He became Hugh, her Lilly; some sort of a family atmosphere was slowly being created. Food stuffs, mostly flour, vegtables and fruit was purchased at farms as they travelled. Lilly, used to having to live off the land picked what things they came across and became the de-facto hunter using his never used traps and snares. Once in a while she brought down game with the new crossbow he had given her. More often than not, the sling he fashioned for her brought them dinner.

It had been several days travelling now when they came near a larger town. Lilly became uneasy when Hugh started to place his hands on her and strung a rope across her chest then down her legs. “Hold still will you, I need to know what size you are or your new clothes will never fit. Has no one ever measured you for new clothes or armour before, you are shaking like a tree branch in the wind?”

“Oh! I got scared, I thought you were like...” She never finished.

“Sorry Love. I guess there are some unpleasant memories this brought to mind. I did not know. I would never hurt you or worse ... never ... we are...”

Tears were forming in her eyes now. “You will stay here and mind the camp. I will be back shortly and just have gotten an idea as a surprise for you.”

The few hours he was gone seemed like days had past to Lilly. The call, “Hello the camp” sounded like Hugh allright. More tears came to her eyes this time in response to knowing he was back. She now knew what he meant when he left unfinished ‘we are... ‘, it was a mutual feeling. They were all each other had.

“Coin makes the world turn lass; anything one wants has a price. The wagon that follows has your surprise, hopefully it will undo any unpleasant memories.”

Lilly did not know what he meant by that. It was when the wagon and a tied horse following appeared that she gave him a questioning look. “May I introduce Mary, the village seamstress and Johan her green grocer brother. She perhaps is better suited to measure you and create some new garb in your exact size. Into the tent with you and let Mary do her magic while Johan and I handle all the man things. Oh, by the by, more work for you since the horse that follows is yours too, the poor mule will have carry some real weight now not just your skinny arse.”

She headed towards the tent and gave him a mock swipe; a smile on her face.

Coming out of the tent, tears were flowing again from her eyes as Mary and Johan returned to the village. “Be patient, it may be three or four days before they will return. We do have some treats for meals though. As I said, coin makes the world turn no matter, farm, village or town; and for a while we have that, thanks to my so-called father so lets see what they have brought us to eat.”

Eat they did, and quite well. Lilly was now sleeping much nearer to him at night, even reaching out and holding his hand at times. She decided to trust her instincts rather than relive past bad memories. Hugh made a promise to himself to determine what his bounds were with Lilly; he did not wish to overstep them.

When Mary and Johan returned later that week with Lilly’s new clothes, there was some light armour for her and more food and supplies; it was not all they brought with them. Beth and Amy, two 10 or 11 year-old orphans meekly stood by the side of the wagon watching. From Mary: “It seems to me since your squire is better fed, well dressed now, cared for more than most and your purse not much lighter in doing that, so some assistants for your assistant are in order. Pages in training they might be for you. Beth and Amy would soon be lost as slaves in the village with no one left to care about or for them. Whatever work, poor treatment or misery befalls them with you it is a far cry better than what they might receive elsewhere. From what your squire Lilly has told me of you, these girls stand a better chance with you to survive and become someone, not to be found dead or molested in some dark alley like they were.”

One only had to look in the girls’ eyes to see the truth in what Mary was saying. They were not being forced into this, rather it seemed they were hopeful of it happening. ‘How could he refuse’ was his thought as Lilly ran up and hugged the girls. Yes, he was in-charge, just ask Lilly. Hugh just shook his head and produced a handful of silver coins from his purse for Mary. It was many times more than what she had expected as payment. “The rest is for more clothes for Lilly and you might as well outfit her ‘assistants’ both for travel and their new roles with us.” Yes, he certainly was in-charge.

Sleep that night was a precious thing, not only was the tent getting crowded but Lilly, Beth and Amy seemed to talk through the night. They were bonding. Just by listening, he learned more about Lilly than he had in all the previous days travelling with her. It seemed Beth and Amy now had found a big sister in Lilly; maybe even a family of sort with us, none had the like for some years, if ever before. Hugh wondered how Lilly viewed him in this arrangement?

Like all good things have an end, it was time to resume their travels when Mary and Johan returned as promised. Clothes did make the man; in this case his girls. They now looked the part of his entorage not some bedraggled misfits.

The problem of transportation was solved by the girls themselves. Each few hours each would alternate, all 40 or 50 pounds of Beth or Amy would mount up behind Hugh while the other rode with Lilly. Having their arms around him, holding tightly on and a small head pushing into his back was their own form of bonding with Hugh.

At this time, it was not uncommon for a girl to be given or sold as a wife or worse at the age of 11 or 12 so Hugh did take note of that fact when their hands gripped him tighter, like in a hug. Lilly thought it funny, she said she was more likely to be considered the wife while Beth and Amy her sisters. Hugh was taken aback at her comments; it was something he never had considered. He had to agree. She had filled out, now with womanly curves too. Her words had some merit though, he might easily do worse in a wife. No other prospect for one had seemed as caring and agreeable to him as her and none would disagree she was quite beautiful, like he once said to her. She had not forgotten that statement either.

All three were tall, if not big girls so in the next stop, a small town, some bladed arms as well as boiled leather vests, riding boots and pants for them joined their growing supplies including dirks, small swords, more crossbows and bolts. A chain shirt for Lilly joined a light helmet with faceguard made her truly his squire now. Since his job demanded stealth and a prowness with arms, so too would their future training include those things for both Lilly and those two assistants. Lilly was somewhat skilled already in the crossbow and sling so she would set the pace for the other’s education. He would also school them all in math, reading, writing and speaking French, English and German with some Latin and Greek thrown in. In a few years they would be thought of as educated Nobles. He dreaded that thought, the one where they would want to leave him. He thought back to what Mary had said about what better chances they would have to learn, she was correct in that. She was also correct in indicating that Hugh was in a dangerous line of work. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

That same line of thinking of how they now looked came up in a few days. A caravan wanted a guard, not just any sell-sword but one like Hugh, a knight with retinue. He gladly took the job but charged more than any single guard would, his first real adventure as a group, to be sure. He had never considered his girls thoughts in this. Their reaction when he told them of the job was not what he even had considered. Lilly nudged him awake that night. “I have discussed this with my assistants and we all feel on-the-job training you have planned will be like jumping across a fire pit and realizing ‘we can do what we have been training for’. We all owe you our life and will not fail you Hugh.”