Eli had to hum and sing to get the girls in a good mood through the afternoon. Smiling happily, trying to be positive, but from the girls point of view, the longer it took to see signs of any of the village, the less hope they had.
About an hour after they had stopped for lunch they finally saw the main road that would lead eventually to one of the bridges across the great river, and also to the mouth of the sea.
The walked in the trees still, staying covered. No one was one the roads, making Joy worried because there was usually a lot of foot traffic going in and out of the village closest to the palace. When they got the entrance Joy tried not to show what was wrong on her face. Tried to hide that she knew something was wrong.
"What is it Joy?" Eli asked her and she gulped and when th
