Page 43 of The Silent Songbird

Chapter Thirteen

The next day Westley stood by the well talking withReeve Folsham. Several men had come from the field to get a drink at the well.

Eva and Nicola approached with their buckets. The men respectfully stood back and let them draw water, even helping them haul it up.

Just then a familiar voice called out, “Westley!”

“John.” Normally Westley would greet his friend with a jovial clap on the back. But the last time he’d seen John flooded his mind, the tension and accusations.

But today John was smiling. “Good morning, Westley. A pleasant day, is it not?”

“How are you?” Westley took a step toward him, then someone yelled.

“Stop! These are the men!” Eva pointed at John and his servant, Roger Cox.

“What?”

Everyone was staring at Eva as if she had lost her mind.

“These are the two men who tried to kill you!”

John’s face paled and he took a step back. Westley’s own face grew hot. “You are mistaken, Eva. These men would never—”

“I am not mistaken! I saw this man strike you and push you into the river.” She pointed at John again.

“That is enough. Go back to the house.” How dare she accuse his best friend of trying to kill him? Would the girl never stop lying?

She stared back at him. Her cheeks were red and she pressed her lips together, her eyes sparking with green fire. She picked up her buckets and glared at John.

“What is this about?” John chuckled nervously.

“She is addled,” one of the men said.

“She’s been pretending to be mute when she first came here.”

“Full of stories.”

The men laughed, including John and Roger Cox.

Eva lifted her chin and stalked off, carrying her buckets of water.

Westley stared after her, his stomach churning. Surely she was wrong about John.

Westley and John made small talk. “We are on our way to meet with the men of Ox Creek about . . .”

Westley’s mind wandered while John talked. Soon John and Roger took their leave from him and continued on their way down the road. The reeve’s eyes narrowed as he stared after John and Roger. Did he suspect Eva was telling the truth?

Westley hated that Eva’s words had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. His friend had changed quite a bit in the last two years since the Peasants’ Uprising, but surely John would not have tried to kill him. Surely this was just another one of Eva’s deceptions.

Either way, he felt sick in his stomach as he made his way back to the house with Reeve Folsham.

Nicola caught up with Evangeline on their way back to the castle. “You can speak?”

Evangeline cringed. “I’m sorry I pretended to be mute. Westleyknows. And now he thinks I’m lying, but, Nicola, I’m not lying. Those men struck Westley in the head and pushed him into the river.”

“But, Eva, do you know who those men are?”

“No.”