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and others I've met, too. It was written by a man named Pierce, and I've good reason to believe he's the one who sent me here. The last thing I heard him say was, 'You must right a grievous wrong,' and the same words were written into his play, too." She left out the part about his calling her "my daughter." That was an added complication she'd yet to figure out. |
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"Then this Pierce, was he haunting you through your whole life? Was he a messenger from God or the devil? Who is he?" |
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Mariah shrugged. Holly was clearly enthralled by the story. Her close-set hazel eyes had never been wider, and her mouth was open wide enough that she seemed to inhale Mariah's very words. |
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"Anyway, I've reason to think that Pierce is here, in this time, somewhere. I've apparently taken on the life of the play's Matilda character, more or less." |
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"Then where is she?" Holly sounded confused. |
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Mariah shook her head. "I've no idea. Maybe Pierce did something to her so I could take her place. Or maybe she's a figment of his imagination. There's more in the play that's different from reality here." |
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"What?" Holly leaned further toward Mariah. |
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"Well, for one thing, Thorn's personality is different from the man in the play." Mariah didn't explain how, or how disappointed she'd been. "Some episodes I read about have come true, though not exactly as written." She described the incident with the river rats, the wolves, the Indian who was supposed to be friendly. "You already know about my prediction that the soldiers would follow hot on the trail of the settlers; that was in the play, too, though it indicated that the homesteaders would be attacked by the soldiers." |
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"You may have stopped that from happening." Holly sounded awestruck. |
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Mariah shrugged. "Maybe. But right now . . . well, I'm scared. The next episode in the play is the capture by Indians of the Matilda character. And that seems to be me." |
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Hearing a choking sound from beside her, Mariah turned |
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