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"Moone on for some time "Sorry" Sara released her The other children were strea She was happy; a weight had lifted from her heart "Go on, kiddo," she said "I’ll see you later"

The records office opened at nine o’clock Sara waited on the steps in the dappled shade of a live oak It was a pleasant su past How quickly life could change, she thought

When the clerk unlocked the door, Sara rose and followed the woman inside She was older, with a pleasant, weathered face and a row of bright false teeth She took her ti Sara’s way, pretending to notice her for the first tiht"

The clerk licked her fingers and removed a form from a slotted shelf, then placed it on the counter and dipped her quill in a bottle of ink "Whose?"

"Mine"

The woman’s pen halted over the paper She raised her face with an expression of concern "You see, honey Are you sure?"

"Please, can we just do this?"

Sara sent the form to the census office with a note attached--Sorry! Found it after all!--and went to the hospital The day passed quickly; Hollis was still ahen she got home She waited until they were in bed to make her announcement

"I want to have another child"

He rose on his elbows and turned toward her "Sara, we’ve been through this You knoe can’t"

She kissed hi and tenderly, then drew back to meet his eyes "Actually," she said, "that’s not exactly true"

12

Ten moves, and Caleb had Peter coht cruelly sacrificed, and the enemy forces swarmed over him

"How the heck did you do that?"

Peter didn’t really h it would be nice to win once in a while The last time he’d beaten Caleb, the boy had had a nasty cold and had dozed off ame Even then, Peter had barely eked out the victory

"It’s easy You think I’ged "It’s like a trap in your head Iup the pieces again; one victory was not enough for the night "What did the soldier want?"

Caleb had a way of changing the subject so abruptly that soled to keep up "It was about a job, actually"