She genuinely liked all members in the troupe of mummers she had fallen in with, thinking of them now as family. Being with this large group gave her a taste of a life unlike she’d ever known before. She said a quick “Hail Mary” to thank her Dear Lord for sending Gwenith into her path.The June heat was oppressive, though, and it wasn’t even noon yet as she rested from her duties in the shade of a tree. Madeleine reached around, lifting her long braid high, and used it to fan the back of her neck. The slight breeze gave her momentary relief. She dropped her hair and started to turn, but she stopped in her tracks when her braid remained aloft. For a moment, icy fear swept through her. Images of Henri crowded her head, and blinding panic pushed all else from her consciousness.Then she slowly relaxed as a familiar laugh floated on the air behind her. Whirling, her braid now freed, she caught a glimpse of Royce, a fellow member of the mummers’ troupe, ducking behind the mature oak tree that had provided her shade for the past ten minutes.
