When he realised that, as the seat was full, Donela would have to sit with her back to the horses, he said,
“Allow me, ma’am, to give you my seat where I know you’ll be more comfortable.”
“That is very kind of you,” Donela exclaimed.
The man moved over and as he did so the guard asked,
“Now then, ma’am, where might you be a-goin’?”
Donela had almost forgotten that she would have to pay her fare.
“I am not certain,” she answered. “What is your final destination?”
“Last stop afore Oxford be Little Fording,” the guard replied.
Donela hesitated.
She thought it might be rather frightening to arrive in Oxford late in the day.
She would not know where to go or where she should stay.
“Little Fording’s where we’re goin’,” one of the girls beside her said. “I hears it’s ever so pretty!”
