|
|
|
|
|
|
Especially since Matilda had had to rely on Thorn to free her. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The same strange thought she'd had before struck Mariah: Where was Matilda now? Had Pierce done something to a real woman so Mariah could take her place? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The idea unnerved Mariah further, and she bit her lower lip. Somehow, she'd have to learn what had happened to the woman whose life she now lived. She only hoped her counterpart was all right. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
She recalled another frightening incident from the script: a siege of the inn by raiders. Why had the men attacked the inn and its inhabitants? She racked her brain in frustration, but all she remembered was that the outcome had been violent, the norm for scripts of adventure movies. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
She wished she could at least recall the order in which the script's events had unfolded. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The only other incident she remembered well was the duel. A young soldier had called Thorn out. What was his name? She couldn't recall. ''Damn it!" she said aloud, stamping her boot on the floor. Pressing down on the paper, she nearly broke off the nib of the quill in frustration before she calmed herself. Fortunately, only a tiny inkblot appeared on the page. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That duel at the end was the most important part of the screenplay, and she could only remember a few details about it. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A spasm of something icy plunged through Mariah. That couldn't happen. Not here. Not for real. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If that was the wrong she was to right . . . not that Thorn meant anything to her. But in his way he'd been good to her, sheltering her, saving her more than once, however grudgingly. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
She owed him. She wouldn't let him die. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not if she could anticipate and prevent it. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
That was enough for tonight. With a sigh, she recorked the ink bottle and placed the paper and other materials under her bed. She'd find a better place to hide them in the morning. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Among the clothing she'd washed was a pretty white |
|
|
|
|
|