Page 64 (1/2)

Who could it be? What should she do?

In the ht, she could make out the breath of his shoulders, and the excellence of his seat, and suddenly she kneho he was She knew

This was dreadful

He would think her an idiot, roaht like this Anyone could have coht and woods were busy!

She felt ashaathered up her defense She wanted to race off so that he could not be certain it was she But, she stopped her horse and waited for the abuse he was bound to ring over her stupid, stupid head

“Da out here alone at night? And where the deuce have you been, co from that direction?”

She was near enough now to see his face He looked furious, concerned, and yet, so about him, made her want to just dive into his arms If they were not on horseback, she believed that hat she would have done She lifted her eyes to his, in noforever on her oithout the comforts of her home, and forever worried about Ned

Suddenly misery trumped shame, as she felt tears collect in her eyes and flood over onto her cheeks She couldn’t stop theht in her throat nearly choked her

He was off his horse and lifting her off hers He had her tightly in his arms and she felt him throw off her hat as he kissed the top of her head and say incoed her with nonsense saying only, “Oh amine, we shall do, we shall, I promise you that”

“Oh…Brock…oh…” was all she ed to say between sniffs as she attempted to collect herself “ ‘Tis Skip…Skip…I can’t bear to think on it…and I feel as though I…a into pieces…”

“No,a woman as I have ever known You won’t break, and if ever you ed to put a little crack in that wondrous heart of yours, I would seal it right up and make it well No, Mandy You will do But tell ht up the reins of both horses, with her hand still in his, bent to retrieve her hat, and led her to the edge of the woods only a few feet off the road There he bade her sit on a fallen log

This done, he put his arm around her and held her and Mandy felt safe and cared for and sighed away the last of her tears He had produced a handkerchief and she dabbed at her face, blew her nose and handed it back to him

She laughed to see hierly as he stuffed it into a pocket and he grinned as he touched her chin, “Now, that’s more like it”

She giggled nervously and he said, “Now, amine, perhaps you have sufficiently recovered to putwhat it is about our amiable Skip to set you to tears?”

She nodded and saw that his eyes twinkled and all at once she threw both ar the in the crook of his hold to tell hie woet her to believe about her friend