“Very good.” Rosa grinned with satisfaction and wiped her bowl absolutely clean with her bread. “We’ve a hard day of driving ahead of us, but when we get there, absolutely everything will be ready. There will be hot food waiting, we’ve even got sleeping arrangements in place, and everyone can just put the horses and cattle in their stable, eat, and go straight to bed, then deal with what needs to be unpacked in the morning.”

Giselle gaped at her. “How on earth did you manage that?” she asked.

Rosa shrugged, but looked pleased with herself. “Dwarves and brownies, of course. I don’t know what sort of arrangement your Mother had with them, but they didn’t even charge me for any of it, they said they’d already gotten what they needed when the work was done! The chapel has been rebuilt into a stable for the animals with a hayloft over it. I got mowers to come and harvest the meadow twice for hay, there’s enough to last all winter. What isn’t in the hayloft is in haystacks next to the stable. What used to be the east wing has a second floor now, and the dwarves made up beds and wooden partitions on both floors. The west wing has the kitchens on the first floor and storage above. Did you know there was a cellar under it?”

Giselle shook her head.

“Well, there is. With all you have with you, it will be stuffed. There’s more storage above the kitchens, which we will need, with all the food we’ll need to produce for all these people until spring. The north wing with your tower, I’ve had redone as quarters for the couples and families, the Pawnee, Kellermann and Cody. I moved a bed into the floor below your bedroom in the tower for me. If you don’t mind?” Rosa’s voice faltered a little as if she was afraid that Giselle would be annoyed at this intrusion on her privacy.

“Not even a little! It will be grand to have you there!” She reached out and impulsively hugged Rosa’s shoulders. “It all sounds amazing.”

“I’m not sure you’ll recognize it. The dwarves took a lot of liberties with the design, but it’s as perfect for the purpose as it can be.” Rosa hugged back, and finished her stew before it got cold. “I can’t wait for you to see what it’s all turned into.”

“Neither can I!” Giselle said, and meant it.

16

THE horses seemed to sense that this was the last leg of the journey, and although what they were hauling the wagons over barely qualified as a rough track, they actually got their pace up to a fast walk, rather than the plodding pace they usually took. Even the cattle seemed more willing to move.