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Page 58
Her clothing was uncomfortable. Her long skirt almost dragged on the ground, and the dress's snugness about her chest made her want to gasp for breath.
The gloom was nearly unbroken, but now and then a bit of light broke through the canopy of branches overhead, casting a sudden glow on the forest floor. Birds chattered and sang all about them.
They skirted wide trunks of fallen trees. Though Thorn's pace seemed certain, his movements sure, Mariah couldn't imagine how he found his way through growth that looked the same to her no matter which way they veered. The forest smelled dank and moist, mostly pleasant but spoiled occasionally by the odor of something rotten.
And then they broke through into a clearing. Sunshine illuminated a compound of several buildings as restic as the ones Mariah had seen in the area that had appeared to be early Pittsburgh. An unfinished fence of upright logs, each carved to a point like a huge pencil, spanned about a third of the clearing. She counted three main structures: a small, square one of dark stone and two others of the log-and-daub construction she'd seen before, one much larger than the other. The ground around them was bare earth, scattered here and there with dead leaves. A rail Mariah assumed was for tying horses stretched before the front of one of the log buildings.
What a perfect setting for a historical film, she thought.
Thorn stopped so abruptly she nearly ran into him. She walked around to his side. "Nice," she said conversationally. "Is the largest building the inn? Or do people stay in all the structures? I particularly like the looks of that stone building."
He stared down at her as though he'd just recalled her presence. "The stone house is mine," he said coldly. "There is no room for you there."
"Of course." Her irritation burst through in her tone. The last thing she wanted was to be anywhere near this man, let alone intrude on his private domicile. "Now, tell me what my duties will he, and I'll get right to work."
She swallowed so hard she nearly gagged. Those words

 
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