He quietly grabbed his bag and made his way to a nearby pond, just a few meters away, he had used this road many times before, remembering everything about it. He washed his soft face in the pond and drank the water.

Out of the bag, he pulled out a small mirror and a hairbrush. He removed the hair tie from his head, and combed his long brown hair. Although he was not as handsome as other men he had seen, he sort of admired his appearance. Perhaps that was partially from seeing many drunk men along the side roads, who looked more like animals than people. Being a merchant had its quirks.

He sat under a tree near Sara, pulling a novel out of his bag. Reading was the only thing to do to pass the time on his travels.

And so he read…

And he read…

And he read…

And then before he knew it, he had made it to page 130 - he read thirty pages. He marked the page in the book with a piece of cloth, and closed it. He placed it in his bag, and tip-toed to the back of the wagon. Allie still slept. Her breathing was even, she seemed most at peace with the world. She most certainly was exhausted.

He quietly took a few apples from another nearby personal bag, and gave it to Sara before going to relieve his bladder in the forest and returning to bring his horse to the small pond to drink before going to resume his journey.

Then he heard a yawn, followed by the wagon moving as Allie stepped out.

“Oh, I apologize! I did not even realize we stopped.”

She laughed nervously.

“It is quite alright. You seem awfully sleepy. The water is safe to drink if you are thirsty.”

He watched as she walked over and washed her face in the pond before cupping the water in her hands and drinking. She was a small woman, her hair seemed terribly short for a woman as well. His own hair was of course longer, even if he didn’t exactly like it, he supposed he would cut it soon. He had not had short hair in over a year.

The silence was deafening as Noah packed up and hooked Sara back onto the wagon, ready for their journey to continue.

…Into the forest we go…

It was not an understatement, whenever Noah traveled into this specific forest, well, it sent him fear. It was filled with tall pine trees, and in the night, wolves. It would take a decent hour or two to travel through the forest. Time that would drag on and on. He gulped as he faced forward looking at the rocky path that lay before them.