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Page 222
he shook his right one vigorously. "Glad to see you, man."
"And I you," Ainsley said. "I have not visited here at your inn for far too long."
"Why are you here?" Mariah asked, joining them. As if she didn't know. They were after the settlers.
Ainsley looked at her grimly over his broad, upturned nose. "There is another Indian uprising. We have come to warn you and others, and to see if we can save some of the foolhardy who have determined to settle in the west."
Mariah drew in her breath. Francis had mentioned, unconcernedly, that the soldiers had been off fighting Indians. That had been his group's chance to escape.
Had it also become their chance to be killed?
"We would like to stay the night," Ainsley said. His smile revealed his uneven, prominent teeth and did not reach his lusterless eyes. He looked exhausted, as did the other men.
They had been fighting Indians, he said, and the problem had not been resolved.
Poor Indians, Mariah thought. Poor soldiers. If only she, with her knowledge of the future, could somehow help them all.
She nearly laughed aloud. Sure, she could just tell these men, "Don't worry. In less than fifty years this area will be empty of Indians. They'll have been driven west. And less than a hundred years after that, they'll have been forced to live on reservations or be assimilated into the rest of the country." Or she could tell the Indians to stop fighting, that they could save their lives, though not their homes, by being passive.
Right.
She realized that Thorn, Ainsley and Holly were all watching her. Had she said anything aloud? She didn't think so, but she must have been staring into the distance in her reverie. She forced a smile. "May I serve you gentlemen some refreshments?" she asked. She basked in Thorn's pleased expression, focusing determinedly on his gorgeous face rather than his gleaming, bare torso. At least, for once, she was doing what he wanted her to do.
"I will put away my tools, wash up and then rejoin you,"

 
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