Unspoken

Chapter 44 We will carry your name along the road

Jonathan blinked surprised when Emily maneuvered her chair down the aisle between the stack of hay and the equipment. "Miss Emily," he hurried to help her, "what brings you here this morning?" He watched her with concern, her face pale and eyes still red from crying.

He, too, was sad the gypsy girl had left, but to this girl it had been a hard blow.

"Is Harun not here yet?" Emily asked softly.

Jonathan looked at her sadly. "You just missed him, Miss. He left early this morning. He had an errand to run."

Emily's lip trembled. "He will come back, won't he?"

The stable master smiled comforting. "Yes, Miss, he will come back. I still have a set of chores for him. The stables don't clean themselves. And I won't allow him to upset a lady." He winked at the girl. "I'll give him an earful when he comes back."

Emily smiled hesitantly. She appreciated that he was trying to cheer her up, but she was too upset to thank him for it. "Alright," she said quietly and she turned her chair around. "I'll be at the house."

Jonathan watched her progress sadly. The presence of both Leah and Harun had done wonders for the girl. Now Leah was gone. He hoped Harun wouldn't let her down. The girl deserved some happiness in her life, isolated as she was.

With a sigh he turned back to his job. Here were horses to be fed, tack to be cleaned and repaired and a dozen other things to take care of. There wasn't anything he could do to change the situation anyway, so worrying about it would be pointless. He would just carry on as he always had and let life play out the way it would.

He picked up a bucket and opened the door to the first stall.

Horses were much easier to deal with than people.

***

Now that everyone's attention was on him again, Harun suddenly felt awkward. What was he supposed to say? Where should he begin? It wasn't his story to tell and there were so many factors to take into consideration.

"Well, boy?" Milosh said, "what is it you came to tell us?"

"I..." Harun muttered, "I don't know where to begin."

"The man," Ramiro stated with a frustrated expression, "start with the man."

Harun sighed. "I wasn't there when lord Blackwood brought her home. I was still working for the Caldwell family, but... I heard the story after. Lord Blackwood had found her lying on the road, injured and unconscious. And he took her home. He wanted to help. By the time she woke up, you were already gone."

"We have looked," Vali said, "we believed her to be taken. We believed they had killed her."

Harun nodded. "I believe you."

Petsha looked at Milena now. "You lived with them? He let you stay in his house?"

Milena nodded. "With his sisters," she said softly, still not comfortable with her voice, "with his family."

Harun's eyes went wide. "Your voice!" he said startled, "you speak!"

"The girl has not spoken since she was a child," Aishe said calmly, "it is only now that she has found her voice."

It seemed at least some good had come from all of this. Harun nodded slowly, still amazed at the sound of Milena's voice. He was so used to her silence that hearing her speak had unsettled him.

"Daniel is a man of honor," Milena continued. She looked at Ramiro, whose eyes still held worry. "He has not touched me once."

"Still, you call him by name," Czibor said stiffly.