firewood. Sophie had agreed to wash the dishes. Even if it was difficult for her to stand on her injured leg, she still wanted to help because she was afraid of being sent away again.In any case, she wanted to stay. Life in the forest wasn't exactly what she was used to, but better than what she expected when they were found.
Just as she had the last plate clean, Dawin came back with the wood.
"Tell me what did you do that", he asked amazed when he saw the clean dishes. “I washed the dishes, it was okay, wasn't it,” she answered, not without pride. It was completely new for her, washing up was always done for her. Until now! "Thank you, but that wouldn't have been necessary, you have to take it easy on your leg, he said and threw wood into the stove so that it wouldn't cool down in the house overnight."

My leg is feeling much better again and I just wanted to make myself useful. "She lied, hobbled to the table and sat down. Dawin did the same and they talked long into the night.
The next morning, Dawin woke up to a familiar sound. He got up from the table where he fell asleep and crept to the door so as not to chase away what he thought was in front of the door or to wake Sophie up.On the way to the door he peered through the window but could not see anything in the courtyard. Was the horse gone again or was it in the other part of the yard that he couldn't see? He went to the door, opened it, and peered out. There was nothing to be seen in the whole courtyard, but he still heard some kind of noise that didn't seem so familiar to him now. He went out to look around.

Again nothing was to be seen. An owl took off from a nearby tree and flew into the young day, which made Dawin shudder. When he saw the owl, he automatically thought of Ivanhoe and he didn't like the thought at all. The last thing he needed now was the wizard's company.
Dawin averted his gaze from the owl and now looked around the courtyard again after still not finding anything that didn't really calm him down
he went back into the house. He re-lit the fire in the oven and put the berries that were left over from last night on the table for breakfast.After deciding that it would probably be better if he let Sophie sleep in, he went back outside to find a long, thin branch to make a kind of bow out of it. He needed such a weapon to hunt animals like yesterday's rabbit.
He stopped at the edge of the forest. On the ground in front of him there were fresh tracks that under no circumstances could have been of the horse or him. "So I didn't just imagine that I heard something.
Someone was in the yard earlier. But what did he or she want here, there is nothing to get here. "He mumbled quietly to himself when suddenly someone put a hand on his shoulders. As a reflex he grabbed his knife and turned around. Instead of an attacker, however, he looked into the face of a familiar person. Sophie stood behind him and made a horrified face "Why are you so nervous this morning?" She asked with a trembling voice as she took a step away from the knife held out to her."I'm sorry but you're right, I guess I'm a little nervous this morning." he replied calmly.
He got up, put the knife away, and together they went back inside. On the way to the house, Dawin had to turn around a few times because he had the feeling that he and Sophie were being watched, but he couldn't see anything.

"Tell me what were you looking for outside at this early hour?" asked Sophie when they were having breakfast. "I was looking for a long branch that I can make a bow out of, I need one for hunting or it stays with mushrooms and fruits." he replied with a grin.
"If that's the case then I'll help you look for it later. Always the same thing is boring in the long run, isn't it?" she replied, and ate a few more berries. “Tell me, since when have you stopped talking to me?” Dawin looked slightly astonished. "Well, I thought if we want to be friends then we shouldn't talk to each other like strangers." she said, tilting her head slightly and looking at him questioningly."Good idea, I didn't really like that elegant tone anyway. Don't blame me, but that always sounded a bit snooty. It's definitely better that way." He explained and stood up.

"I'm going to go again and look for a suitable branch," he said and went to the door. "Wait a minute, I wanted to come with you and help you." she noted. "No, I better go alone, you're in the best of hands here in the house, I found a few footprints outside this morning that I don't like at all. Please do me this one and stay in here." He said worried and Sophie nodded. "I'll knock twice when I'm against. Otherwise, please don't open the door to anyone." He continued, whereupon she just nodded again.
He left the house and she carefully locked the door with the bolt. His words had had an effect on her, she was afraid. She could imagine who was sneaking around the yard this morning.She was afraid that they would find her and that they would bring her back home. She feared that and yet she made up her mind that it should never happen. Her new home was this little hut and she wanted to defend this new life with all she could do. But she didn't know if she had the strength for it.
She sat on the bed and decided to wait.
In the meantime Dawin had arrived in the forest and began to search when suddenly, out of nowhere, the white horse stood in front of him. It was less than two meters away from him and looked him straight in the eye. It was a strange feeling to be looked at so directly by this animal. He couldn't resist the temptation and tried to touch it. The horse reared up briefly and it was gone. It was gone as quickly and quietly as it had appeared.
Disappointed, he kept looking and soon found what he was looking for. He broke a nice long branch from a spruce tree and started back.When he got to the door he knocked twice and waited. After nobody opened it, he pushed against the door and found that it was no longer locked. He went in. Everything in the hut was devastated and there was no trace of Sophie.