The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson Read Free Book Online

book until he came back for their next tutoring session, but now she bit her lip to stop herself. He was in no mood to grant her such a favor.
    Should she apologize? She had only refuted his warped opinion with Scripture. No, she was not sorry for what she had said, nor for anything she had done. Still, she wished her tutor would not go away angry.
    She followed Brother Philip to the door, neither of them speaking. Then he turned to her. “I shall not return in two days. Your uncle will have to convince me that you are sorry for using Scripture to argue with me, and if he believes you will be able to concentrate and not allow your mind to wander aimlessly, I may return.” He scowled at her.
    Odette’s cheeks burned. How ridiculous that he would take such offense at her besting him with Scripture! But she did want him to come back. She had no copy of the holy Writ, and he often brought his copy for her to read. She had to placate him if she wanted him to come back. So she bit the inside of her cheek and said, “Of course. Forgive me, Brother Philip.” She bowed demurely.
    He turned and left without another word. But he would be back. He was too fond of the food their cook fed him to stay away.She would send Uncle Rutger to ask his forgiveness and pacify the friar’s injured superiority.

    “So . . . who is your future husband?” Anna asked late that afternoon.
    Odette was baffled for a moment, then remembered she was supposed to dream of her future husband on Midsummer night. She didn’t want to tell her friend that she had indeed dreamed of someone. “You know that does not work. Remember when Irmele dreamed of the swineherd on Midsummer night? And she married a wealthy merchant’s son.”
    “Do you not think Jorgen is very handsome? Did you not dream of him?” Anna arched her brows suggestively. “Or did you dream of Mathis Papendorp?”
    They sat in the first-floor room, eating ripe cherries. Anna leaned over and spit a cherry pit into the pottery bowl between them.
    “You know Jorgen is a forester. I haven’t told Uncle Rutger yet, but I do not believe he would approve. He wishes me to marry a wealthy man.”
    “But he is so handsome,” Anna whispered. “And the way the two of you were looking into each other’s eyes . . . I thought perhaps your uncle might set him up in business.”
    Was it true? Had they been staring into each other’s eyes? “I do not think Uncle Rutger would do that. His last three cargos were lost, two at sea and the other to thieves. He is worried about his profits just now.” Her stomach flipped. “Were we really looking into each other’s eyes?”
    “Do not worry. Probably no one noticed except me. And Peter.”
    “Did he say something?”
    Anna nodded. “Even though Peter was taught at home by atutor, I think he must have known something about how the other boys treated Jorgen badly in school. He said several of the boys used to torment him because he was poor.” Anna frowned.
    Odette knew how it felt to be tormented for being poor. Her heart squeezed at the thought. But she couldn’t let Anna think there was any possibility that she could marry Jorgen. If only Odette could acknowledge the real reason.
    Anna nodded. “I was surprised your uncle allowed him to dance with you, even though he is not a gamekeeper anymore but the margrave’s forester.”
    Odette did not contradict Anna’s reasoning about why she could not think of Jorgen.
    “I’m sorry if I misjudged your uncle,” Anna said.
    “No, you are right. It did seem strange that he would allow Jorgen to dance with me”— especially since he would arrest me if he knew who I really was— “and to invite him to dinner was even stranger.”
    “But there’s something about him . . . He seemed gracious and humble, but humble in a . . . powerful way. That sounds foolish, doesn’t it?”
    “No, you describe him very well.” Odette remembered how he had put his arm around her and guided her through the crowd