The Baron's Quest Read Online Free PDF Page A

busied herself, brushing off her skirts so Isaac wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “Now get your things together and we’ll go to Cecily’s house at once. If Samuel takes you as his journeyman, we might be able to convince him to buy back our loom from the guild. It is the only choice we have.”
    She put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. They didn’t have much left. She’d noticed their things disappearing for months now, and had a feeling her father was having difficulties paying his debts, and was selling things off for coin. But he’d kept the finances to himself, saying he didn’t want Muriel to worry. And when she’d confronted him about it, he’d denied any problem, saying they had so much money he’d soon have enough for a dowry for her to attract a successful merchant man to marry.
    Muriel had dreamed about someday getting married, but not to a merchant and certainly not to a peasant. Her mother had died six years earlier, but she remembered her mother telling her that she was special and someday would marry a man who was powerful and wealthy and one she would also love. She was twelve at the time, and they’d planned on sending her to work in a lord’s castle. But at the death of her mother, she ended up staying to help her father and brother instead.
    She and Cecily had always talked of someday having wonderful things happen to them. But now it looked like she’d never have a chance for anything remotely close. No matter what her father had done with their money or breaking rules, it didn’t matter. Because she knew he would have done anything in the world to give his children the best life possible. And now she felt the same way about Isaac. She would do whatever she could to see him succeed in life as well.
    “Take what you need, and I will pack up a bag with what’s left and try to sell some of our things on the docks today.” She looked around the room, knowing she would miss this place. It was the house Isaac was born in, and she remembered the day well when things in their life had turned for the better. Her father had accomplished becoming a Master at his trade. Then her mother had become pregnant with another child, making her father very happy. But her mother had died in childbirth along with their baby sister, and since that day, her father’s heart had no longer been in his work. She’d seen his quality of work slipping over the years as he’d become tired. So she had always made sure that she and Isaac fixed whatever wasn’t up to par. That way, they brought the expected quality back to her family’s trade, securing that their cloth was the best in town.
    “But Muriel, we don’t have enough things to sell to earn the rent you owe the baron.” Isaac picked up a wooden cup and handed it to her and she stuck it in her travel bag.
    “Nay, but it’s a start. Because if we lose that land, Isaac, we may as well go to the docks to beg because we’ll never make it in our profession again.” She looked down to the ring on her finger when she said it, knowing the one thing she could sell that would pay the rest of her family’s debts and enable her to keep the land.
     
    * * *
     
    Nicholas walked the docks with the other two barons, as they made their way to their ships in New Romney port. It was a beautiful day, and the winds were just right for sailing. He was looking forward to spending some time in Hastings visiting at John’s castle, since there was nothing of pressing importance to do, and his fleets were prepared to leave immediately should their services be needed. But King Edward had been away in France for over a year now, so the chance of being called to duty right now was slim.
    “Romney, your manor house is getting stuffy and I’m only too glad to have you come walk my battlements to air out your lungs,” said John with a chuckle.
    “Aye. And then we’ll sail up to Sandwich when we’re done,” said Conlin. “I’ll show you the new courtyard