Freedom • Lord Tewksbury

FOUR

Catherine helped Enola get enough sticks to start a fire, as Tewksbury gathered them enough mushrooms and other herbs for the feast that he claimed he would make.

Soon, the sun had fully set, and the two cousins had managed to get a fire going. Catherine sat upon the wooden log they had found, Tewksbury leaning against it on her left, while Enola sat on her right, stoking the fire.

Catherine had to admit, the mushrooms that Tewksbury had cooked for them were absolutely delicious, and her hunger had been well satisfied.

"I've been thinking. You need to disguise yourself a little," Enola said, looking passed Catherine to the Viscount. "How do you feel about your hair?"

"I've never cared for it," he answered. Catherine glanced and Enola and smirked.

"Perhaps it's time for a haircut then," Catherine told him. He glanced at her curiously as Enola started sharpening a knife against a rock.

"Cut it off with a knife. Of course you will," he muttered amused. "Who taught you how to sharpen it like that?"

"My mother," Enola answered.

"Your mother is very different to mine," Tewksbury responded as Catherine watched her cousin inspect the knife.

"Who taught you about flowers and herbs?" Enola asked, as she went back to sharpening the knife. Catherine still studied her cousin, trying to pick up on her mood. She couldn't quite tell how she was feeling, and that bugged her. Normally she was always able to read Enola.

"My father," Tewksbury answered.

"I never really knew my father," Enola commented.

"My father's dead too," Tewksbury said. Catherine suddenly grew quite uncomfortable, when she felt a part of her wish that she could relate to her two companions. How horrible of a person must she be to wish for her father's death?

Enola broke Catherine from her thoughts when she held the knife out to her.

"Want to do the honors?" Enola asked her. She could tell her cousin's mood suddenly had shifted dark, so what better way to cheer her up than having her cut the hair of the boy she thought was cute.

"Sure," Catherine responded. She took the knife, and then adjusted herself to face Tewksbury, as Enola announced that she was going to go find some more firewood. Tewksbury looked nervous as she picked up a lock of his hair. "I'll be careful."

"I trust you," he assured her. She smiled and then began the makeshift haircut, being as gentle as she could. "Why have you two run? From home, I mean?"

"Enola didn't want to go to Miss Harrison's Finishing School for Young Ladies," Catherine answered, not telling anything about her reasons. It's not that she didn't trust Tewksbury, it was just that she didn't feel like talking about her parents right then. "Why have you?"

"Well, a tree branch broke above me while I was collecting wild mushrooms. It should have crushed me, but I managed to roll out of the way, and I realized that-"

"What?" Catherine asked, pausing her cutting to look at him as he trailed off.

"You'll laugh at me," he told her.

"I won't," she promised.

"My life seemed to flash before me. I was just about to take my seat in the House of Lords. I had these ideas about how we might progress the estate. But my family were set on me joining the army, and then going overseas, just like my uncle. I realized I was scared, scared I would hate every second of the rest of my life."