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"Caulder&039;s Crossing is eight miles I can&039;t ith my mother, like she is Not alone and what if he coht us out there " She left the rest of it unspoken

That hy Slaughter had destroyed the wagon&039;s wheel, Matthew thought He&039;d seen it in the barn Lark and her hter had wanted to slow his pursuers down in case the bribe didn&039;t work Thus Matthew and Walker were now encuirl and a woman with the mind of a seven-year-old

"You look funny," said Faith to the Indian

He ignored the comment "You&039;ll have to either stay here or walk the road We don&039;t have time to throay"

"Spoken," Matthew said quietly, "like Mr Oxley"

Walker turned upon hih it would have been barely perceptible to anyone but Matthew "Did you see what I saw in that kitcheni The hand of ahere enjoying the shade Do we go, or noti" Exasperated when Matthew didn&039;t immediately respond, Walker asked Lark, "are there saddles for the horsesi"

"No They either pull the plow or the wagon"

Walker spoke in his own language, and frolishman couldn&039;t have expressed a more vehement oath

Matthew had decided "There&039;s a third choice They come with us"

"You arefashion "Those woods at the top of the hill are thicker than ent through thisWe&039;d be slowed to a crawl"

"at least we&039;d be irl," he said "Matthee can&039;t take them up in there! One broken ankle, and we&039;re done"

"Slaughter won&039;t have an easy ti faster than us, yes, but he&039;s still leaving a trail, isn&039;t hei" Matthew held up his leather-wrapped hand when Walker started to protest again "If he&039;s not heading for Caulder&039;s Crossing, he&039;s heading for the Pike Maybe he hopes he can get a ride fro, that&039;s where we can leave the close attention and the latter totally oblivious

Walker stared at the ground after a moment he said tersely, "They&039;ll need food a piece of the ha to carry it in and cloaks or a blanket Warht a flask for water The sturdiest shoes they have, too"

Lark got up and, with a quick glance and a nod of thanks at Matthew, set her jaw and started into the house at once Faith was after her "Mo inside," Lark answered, pausing at the door

"Inside," the wos before we go Do you understand that, Motheri"

"Our housei" There was soaze fixed on her daughter&039;s face, and Matthe the wo came out at first Then she said, in a dazed voice that was midway between a woman&039;s and a child&039;s, "I&039;m not I&039;m not your mother"

"Yes, you are I&039;m Lark Don&039;t you know mei"

"Lark," she repeated, as if she&039;d never heard it before

"Mother, we have to leave here I&039; inside noant you to stay-"

"I don&039;t want you to go inside, Mo at Lark&039;s hand It rip, for Matthe Lark flinch "Please" She leaned her head forward, her eyes wide, and whispered, "I&039;m afraid of that place"

"I&039;o" Lark slowly eased her hand free "Faith," she said, "I want you to stay out here, with theht Will you do that forcloud, moved across her face "Will you do that for your moain, in the land of faraway and long ago But not entirely well; again she leaned forward, and this tih clothes"

Lark went into the house Faith came over toward Matthew and Walker-but not too close-and sat down once round

When Matthew looked into Walker&039;s face, he saw the Indian&039;s eyes burning holes through him Walker abruptly turned away, and strode in the direction of the orchard

In less than three ed, ashen-faced and silent, with a dark brown cloak, a second cloak the gray ofstitched with red and yelloers She had not changed her shoes, as they appeared sturdy enough, but she&039;d brought for her mother a leather pair to trade for the fabric slippers Faith wore as Lark put the shoes on her mother&039;s feet, Faith did not seem to note all the blood on the slippers that were removed Then Lark put the dark brown cloak around Faith&039;s shoulders, fastened it at the throat, and they stood up

"Where are we goingi" Faith asked, as Lark took her hand

"To Mrs Janepenny&039;s house," was the response "I think I&039;d like to get that lace"

"Isn&039;t Daddy coi"

"No We&039;ll meet Daddy later on"

The answer seemed to make Faith happy But as Matthew, Lark and Faith h the orchard toward the rocky hillside ahead, the woman abruptly stopped and looked back, and Matthew stopped also Lark pulled at her mother&039;s hand and said fir"

"This isn&039;t the way To Mrs Janepenny&039;s I don&039;t knohere " again, the voice avering between age and youth, anguish and innocence "I don&039;t knohere I ain to roll down her cheeks

"You&039;re with ht it took a brave soul to keep a steady voice, to betray not a quaver nor a tremble, for surely she knew that this was not the worst part; surely she knew that the worst would come when-if-her mother&039;s mind fully awakened from this protective dream "You&039;re with ess," the woess," she repeated, and now lifted her chin as any child ht lie beyond the walls

"We&039;re going to Mrs Janepenny&039;s by a different way," Lark told her "Look at aze away fro up in her neck, and obeyed "We&039;re going up the hill and through the woods I want you to be careful where you step If you need help, ask me But try to keep up, because we&039;re in well, Mr Shayne and his friend are in a hurry, and they&039;ve offered to take us with thehti"

"The hilli" Faith&039;s ain "What hill, Mo to help you climb," said Lark

Faith nodded, but her eyes were blank "Yes&039; on one knee at the base of the hill about forty yards away The hill was stubbled with large boulders and spindly pines, and at the top the woods boiled up in a thick chaos of green, yellow, purple and red as Walker had said, many places to set a trap

Faith turned her back to the house She began walking, her hand held firether they left the dead behind