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There were also really excellent reasons for staying the hell away froeant Murchison, who seee And then there was Farquard Caulators, slaves and politics…No, I could see quite hy Jale fact of the co war At the same time, I was fairly sure that none of those reasons accounted for his decision

"It’s not just that you don’t want to go back to River Run, is it?" I leaned back against hi his war breeze The season had not yet turned; it was still late summer, and the air was rich with the sun-roused scents of leaf and berry, but so high in the hts turned cold

I felt the sh in his chest, and warm breath brushed h" I turned in his arainst his, so our eyes were inches apart His were a very deep blue, the sa sky in the notch of the hed, startled, and blinked as he pulled back, long auburn lashes sweeping briefly down

"What?"

"You lose," I explained "It’s a game called ‘owl’ First person to blink loses"

"Oh" He took hold of ently back, forehead to forehead "Owl, then Ye do have eyes like an owl, have ye noticed?"

"No," I said "Can’t say I have"

"All clear and gold--and verra wise"

I didn’t blink

"Tell "

He didn’t blink either, but I felt his chest rise under my hand, as he took a deep breath

"How shall I tell ye what it is, to feel the need of a place?" he said softly "The need of snow beneaththeir own breath in ave breath to Adaht of the lichens on it, enduring in the sun and the wind"

His breath was gone and he breathed again, takingme, face-to-face

"If I am to live as a man, I must have a

"Will ye trust ainst mine, but his eyes didn’t blink Neither did mine

"With my life," I said

I felt his lips smile, an inch from mine

"And with your heart?"

"Always," I whispered, closed ed Myers would go back to Cross Creek, deliver Jamie’s instructions to Duncan, assure Jocasta of our welfare, and procure as much in the way of stores as the remnants of our money would finance If there was time before the first snowfall, he would return with supplies; if not, in the spring Ian would stay; his help would be needed to build the cabin, and to help with the hunting

Give us this day our daily bread, I thought, pushing through the wet bushes that edged the creek, and deliver us not into teh; for good or ill, ouldn’t see River Run again for at least a year As for the daily bread, that had been coh as dependably as manna, so far; at this time of year, there was an abundance of ripe nuts, fruits and berries, which I collected as industriously as any squirrel In two rew bare and the streaht still hear us, above the howl of the winter wind

The stream was noticeably swelled by the rain, the water roaning slightly as erated all the nor stiffnesses I splashed cold water on h ain, blood tingling through , I sao deer drinking from a pool on the other side, a little way upstream from me I stayed very still, not to disturb them, but they showed no alarm at my presence In the shadow of the birches, they were the same soft blue as the rocks and trees, little more than shadows themselves, but each line of their bodies etched in perfect delicacy, like a Japanese painting done in ink

Then all of a sudden, they were gone I blinked, and blinked again I hadn’t seen them turn or run--and in spite of their ethereal beauty, I was sure I hadn’t been i them; I could see the dark imprints of their hooves in the one

I didn’t see or hear a thing, but the hair rose suddenly onup ar but my eyes Where was it, as it?

The sun was up; the tops of the trees were visibly green, and the rocks began to glow as their colors war moved, save the water

It was no more than six feet away fro was lost in the noise of the stream Then the broad head lifted, and a tufted ear swiveled toward ?