Ch. 20.2 — Sitting on the stream bank, almost concealed by the leafy shrubs, was a man. He stood up and came forward. The man had green eyes, a hooked nose, a brown beard trimmed very short, and chestnut hair that fell to just above his collar. He wore a simple shirt, and his pant legs were rolled up to his knees.
The man gave her a cheerful smile. “Of course, if you came home with me, my wife would feed you not only the fish I’ve already caught, but she’d also give you bread baked just this morning, with carrots and beans from our garden.”
Janine’s mouth watered. Freddie went right up, tail wagging, and begged to be petted. Janine watched the man stroke the dog and scratch his ears. Freddie trusted him. He seemed like a nice man. Also, she realized, he wasn’t reacting in the usual way to her face – as if he couldn’t see her ugliness. For that matter, Connie hadn’t reacted either. Hmmm.
“You can trust me. My name’s Col, by the way.”
He gathered up his fishing pole, a basket, and a bucket of recently-caught fish, and set off into the forest, singing as he went. Janine couldn’t resist. The thought of fresh baked bread overcame her. She followed.
They soon came to a cute little cottage. Out front on the lawn a plump woman with long, wavy red hair sat with an easel before her, painting. As soon as she saw him, her face lit up. “Darling, you’re home early, and you’ve brought company! How wonderful.”
She set down her paint brush and came forward to kiss her husband. Then she turned and smiled at Janine.
Janine stuck out her hand. “Hi. I’m… I’m Janie.”
The lady ignored her hand and hugged her. “Welcome, Janie. Call me Bee. How lovely of you to drop in. We haven’t had visitors in a very long time. I’ll put the kettle on. Col, you go clean those fish. We’ll have a nice dinner very soon.”
Janine felt dizzy. Col? Short for Colin? Bee, short for Bernice? Could it be?
Carol Nicolas 