Innocence Lost

by Patty Jansen

  Chapter 17

  THEY SAW NO ONE on the river the next day. No merchant sloops, no farmers’ barges. Once they came past a punt moored on a jetty, but there were no people. When Johanna had come with Father to Lurezia, the river had been quite busy with merchants and other vessels. On that trip, there had been people crossing the river in small boats, people riding horses on the banks, people fishing. This time, it was as if the country had died.

  Towards the end of the day, they arrived at the fork where the Rede River joined the Saar River. Both rivers were wide, softly churning expanses of water, and the Rede River especially was brown with the extra water from molten snow. The country on the left-hand bank would now be Estland, that on the right still Saarland. Past the Rede River, the left-hand bank would be Burovia. The tongue of land at the point between the two rivers was a kind of no-man’s land that was claimed by Estland, Saarland, Burovia or even Gelre depending on who was speaking. It was marshy ground, not worth much except for its strategic position.

  Upriver from the fork, the Saar River curved around in a big loop. Loesie’s farm was there, in an area people called The Bend.

  Johanna stood at the bow looking over the vast expanse of water while the sea cows made slow progress through the churning water.

  Aroden castle was on the Rede River, so they kept to the left.

  Past the fork where the Rede River joined, the country became more hilly and the river faster. Dark swathes of forest spread on both banks.

  Johanna had never been here. This had been considered dangerous country until quite recently. She had not attended the Aroden court for that reason, but had heard enough from Father about the bandits who would raid ships and steal all the cargo.