Chapter 69

“Slow down, girl. Why are you running?” An old woman asked me.

I had reached the southern village and I was heading to the dock to get a boat ride to the Highlands. I’d stopped briefly by an empty stall in the market to catch my breath when the woman showed up.

“Are you ok?” She asked.

She was standing in the shadows where I couldn’t see her properly but I recognized her voice.

“Lattie?”

She stepped forward and the moonlight shone on her face. She was staring at me with a puzzled expression.

“Do I know you?” She asked.

“Not in this life,” I replied plainly. “Where’s Albert? Do you think he’ll be willing to give me a ride to the Highlands?”

Lattie was speechless at first. “Who are you?”

“My name is Jade. You don’t know me yet or maybe you do and don’t remember, but I know you from another time.”

“Child, that doesn’t make sense.”

“To you, it doesn’t but to me, it does. Where’s Albert?”

“He already packed up and left. I only stayed back this long to sell off my last batch of fresh apples