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Page 140
terware to serve the meal. Then she approached the hearth. A series of meat slices were on a rack ready to place over the fire. "Should I cook these now?"
"Yes. In fact"
He stopped as a woman slowly walked through the kitchen door and peered around hesitantly. She was an Indian, with plaited black hair, cheekbones Mariah would have killed for and shy ebony eyes. She wore a fringed doeskin dress that hung loosely on her slight form. "Excuse me, but I would like to help," she said in perfect English, though with a slight coarseness to her accent.
Mariah glanced at Thorn, who was sharpening a knife on a whetting stone at the hearth. The scraping sound grated on Mariah's nerves, and so did the pretty woman's presence. Thorn had hardly glanced at her, but his avoidance seemed deliberate. Who was she? Thorn's lady friend?
The thought caused a lump the size of the whetting stone to harden in Mariah's stomach.
"Nice of you to offer, Mrs. Rafferty," he replied. His tone was a growl, as though it pained him to be polite. "Mariah, here, can tell you what to do."
Mariah eyed the woman doubtfully. "Well, let's see" Using rags to protect her hands, she placed the meat-laden metal rack over the fire and looked around. René had begun a side dish that looked like hominy, though its aroma was sweet. It hung in a small pot from one of the iron bars over the fire. The meat would take little time to broil; the fire was hot. Mariah lifted the pot. "Mrs. Rafferty, maybe you can put this into a serving bowl." She rested the pot on the hearth and went to get a wooden bowl and pewter ladle.
Two men burst through the kitchen door as Mrs. Rafferty spooned the mixture into its container. "What's the holdup, Thorn?" barked the older one. He had a scruffy beard and looked as though he'd never bathed in his life. "Me and my boy's hungry. Ain't Elkie here helpin' out? When's supper?"
"Soon, Rafferty," Thorn retorted. "Sooner yet if we just let the women finish."
Rafferty? This was the Indian woman's husband? He looked a half century older, and Mariah couldn't imagine the

 
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