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Page 334
Will was already heading between the rows of barracks, and Mariah joined him, trying to ignore the squishiness of the mud beneath her boots, the slow raindrops that dampened her face. She held up the edges of her long pink skirt, for whatever good that did. "So, Will," she said, "I've been curious. Where did you spend all that time after you were kidnapped till you returned here? Were you brought up by Indians?"
His laugh was anything but humorous. "Even after our experience together, I nearly wish that were true. No, thanks to Thorn I was stolen away by my beloved grandfather." His tone oozed sarcasm. "He brought me up in Philadelphia."
"Your grandfather?" Astonishment slowed Mariah's steps, but only for an instant. She was careful not to lose her footing as she caught up.
"My father's father. He came after me, you see, after my father died and my mother ran away with me." Without slackening his pace, he looked at her with irritation scrunching his eyes. "I do not need to bore you with this unpleasant tale."
"I'm interested. Really. So why did your mother leave?"
This time his laugh sounded more like a bull's frenzied snort. "My father's family had money. My mother'swell, her father was the blacksmith who'd worked for my grandfather. The match was not one blessed by heavenor my grandfather. He hated my mother, made her life hell. Even I recalled that. So when my father caught a fever and died, there was nothing for her there."
"How old were you?"
"I was eleven. The man of the family. I agreed with her decision to leave. I applauded it, for my grandfather was a stem and nasty old man, and I was delighted for the opportunity to get away. But neither of us counted on his determination. I was his only remaining heir, you see." His tone was bitter. He was walking faster now, as though he couldn't wait to get to their destination.
The place he'd kill Thorn.
Mariah's voice was shrill. "So he followed you here?"
They'd reached the drawbridge, and Mariah climbed onto

 
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