He turned, and smiled as she quickly looked at him, but back away again as soon as they made eye-contact.

“Um… yes.” She answered after a long pause.

The way she spoke made her seem unsure, that or annoyed.

“Oh, I thought so too. I have heard the southern and western accents, they sound… different so to say. I have heard that in the capital many even speak an entirely different language. I haven’t been there myself although.”

Even Noah knew he must have sounded awkward and well… like a solo traveling merchant. When she did not reply, he thought to leave her alone until Leo would bother her when he joined them. He had never picked up a hitch-hiker before.

The moment he turned his head he saw her leaning against the wall of the wagon, her eyes shut as if she were resting.

Well, that was quite rude…

Noah quickly reminded himself that this wasn’t just a random drunk man he discovered passed out in the woods, but a woman who clearly had a tough time in the middle of nowhere.

He looked up at the sky as the wagon moved, seeing small thin clouds walking across where the sun was rising. It was going to be a beautiful day. In the distance, he could hear geese, a sign of them arriving for the warm summer.

“Towards the north-east,” Noah stated, pointing in that direction.

“-There is a large lake, I visit it in the summer. It is called Lake Henry, named after the explorer. Have you heard of it before?”

“No.”

Noah turned seeing that Allie had her head leaning against her folded knees, seeming interested in the conversation he tried to muster.

“You should visit it once, the water is not all that deep, and it is quite large, you can even see the ocean from it… The water is so beautiful and clear, in many parts you can view the bottom.”

He smiled as he thought back on the visits he would have with his mother, Leo, as well as his mother to the lake in the summer times, when the water was warm enough for it not to be considered as cold. That time would soon be again.