Renna headed to a closet nearby, quietly opening the door. She pulled out a satchel and a blanket and stuffed it in the bag. Next, she went to the kitchen for bread, granola, and cheese. If she had her way, she would stay at the pond until the caravan was leaving. Packed with provisions, she sidled over to the back door and pushed it open. The cool morning air filled her lungs with happiness. Eyes closed, she sucked in as if it was her first time ever breathing fresh air.
Everything felt different at Wellenbreck. It felt better.
Male voices startled her. She pressed her back against the stone wall and tiptoed to the corner of the house to get a better look at who was there.
Guards.
There were always guards in her way. The four men were supposed to be on patrol outside the house. Instead, they stood chatting in a semi-circle.
The last thing Renna wanted was to be funneled back inside by one of her mother’s co-conspirators, but these men weren’t expecting Renna. She was confident she could slip out unnoticed.
Renna waited until the guards’ heads were turned, then she scurried to the long rows of corn stalks fifteen feet away. Without thinking, she dove to her knees as if her escape was a matter of life or death. She swung her shoulder bag onto her back and started crawling, immediately feeling the damp mud between her fingers and seeping through the bottom of her dress.
Ugh! Why didn’t I just bend down?
She was a mess, but she convinced herself that it would be fine. She could wash up at the pond and then have breakfast at her father’s grave.
Halfway through the row of corn, Renna decided it was safe to stand. She sighed when she saw the mess she had made out of her dress. She lifted up the bottom of the skirt, picking at the mud as she walked, trying to flick it to the ground. She took a stick and worked at the dirt on the bottom of her shoes. She was so engrossed in cleaning the mud off her clothes that she hardly registered the rest of her walk to the pond.
As she approached the clearing, splashing sounds triggered the abrupt stop of her feet. Her head jerked up, but she couldn’t see anything between the trees. Renna listened again. More splashing sounds. Her heart raced as the noises confirmed someone was swimming in her pond.
The soldier from yesterday flashed through her mind.
Could it be him?
It seemed unreal, but as she peered around the last tree, a head of dark curls appeared in the water. It was him.
And with very little clothes on.
He had left his weapons and shoes on a rock near the edge of the dock, but this time he’d also removed his shirt and pants, which meant he was swimming in nothing but his undershorts. His muscular arms pierced through the water and then out again with each stroke.
Courage swelled in Renna’s chest, tempting her to continue the game they had started yesterday. Her lips crept into a devilish smile as a plan came to mind.
His clothes were only a few feet away on the rock.
Renna waited until he dove under the water again. Then, without hesitating, she made a dash for the pile. As she scrambled forward, she wondered how much a person could hear underwater. She used one hand to steady her bag against her hip so he wouldn’t hear it jostling. He was more likely to hear her beating heart. It pounded loudly between her own ears. Reaching his clothes, she scooped them up against her chest and scurried back toward the tree.
She might have been caught, but luckily his eyes were closed when he came up for air. Brushing away the water threatening his eyes, he pushed his hands to his face and up through his hair. It gave her just enough time to reach the tree and hide safely behind it.
She looked down at the pile of clothes in her arms: black pants, a white shirt, and a black button-up jacket. She noted that they were surprisingly clean for a soldier, and she resisted the urge to smell them.
That would be weird.
Then she reminded herself that she had just stolen a stranger’s clothing. Everything about this situation was weird.
So she smelled them.
The aroma of lemongrass-scented soap filled her nostrils.
He’s a frilly soldier.
Sloshing sounds in the water startled her. Renna peeked around the edge of her hiding place to see him nearing the water’s edge. She willed her breath to be quiet, guessing that he was probably looking for the heap of clothing he had left by the water. He muttered something she couldn’t understand under his breath, but she clearly heard the string of profanities that came next. For a moment, she panicked.
I stole his clothes! This was a mistake.
Maybe he didn’t want to play any games today. Maybe he was in a terrible mood and had just wanted a quiet swim to feel better.
But she was in too deep now. There was no way out.
With as much confidence as she could muster, Renna casually walked out from behind the tree. “It looks like it’s your turn to be rescued,” she said as she dangled his clothes from her finger.
He looked in her direction, and the same smile from yesterday returned.
The game was on.
He huffed. “I would hardly call this a situation where I need rescuing.”
Renna stepped closer. “Is that so? I guess I’ll just keep your clothes.” She shrugged, an innocent look on her face. “After all, I’m always looking for more boy clothes to swim in.”
He pushed his body out of the water and onto the dock, revealing muscles she had never known existed nor cared about until this moment. Feeling flustered by his bare chest and wet, clinging undershorts, she quickly walked forward and threw the clothes onto the dock, losing all her confidence from moments ago.
“Here you go!” She stumbled back onto the grass awkwardly, searching for somewhere else to look.
“Are you all right?” Amusement filled his tone.
“Yes! I’m fine! I just, um . . .” Why wasn’t there anything to look at? Or anything to say that didn’t make her seem like an idiot? She covered her eyes with one hand as she spoke. “You’re here, and I’m here, and you don’t have your clothes on, and you need your clothes . . .”
He snickered as she rambled on.
“Pants! Pants are important to have, and most men wear them, at least in front of me. And um . . .” She glanced from under the palm of her hand.
He still wasn’t dressed.
Instead, he stood on the dock, dripping wet, his blue eyes glimmering with amusement. “I had no idea my chest had such an effect on women.”
“It doesn’t,” she lied, determined to wipe his smug smile away. She lowered her hand to her hip, trying to regain some of her pride back. She was completely horrified by how ridiculous her actions must have seemed to him. “I thought I saw a snake and . . . I hate snakes.”
“It’s okay if you liked what you saw.” He shrugged, obviously not believing her.
She did like what she saw. In fact, she highly doubted there was anything much better, but she wasn’t going to admit that to him. She waved her hand flippantly. “I’ve seen dozens of men shirtless just this week, all of them with better-defined abs than you.”
There was his cute smile again, stretching from ear to ear. “Dozens of shirtless men, huh?”
Great! Now I sound sleazy!
He studied her. “What happened to you? Maybe you do need my clothes, after all.”
Renna sighed as she looked down. She had forgotten about the dried mud all over her dress and sleeves. She didn’t even recall smoothing her hair out this morning before she’d left her room. How she looked should have been the first thing she considered when she saw him. Instead, she stole his clothes.