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will rearrange things so you are back in your own room," Holly said. |
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There wasn't much to rearrange, though the most important item, Marlab's precious paper with her screenplay predictions, was hard to move surreptitiously with Holly hovering about. She managed to hide it in the folds of her skirt and to slide it under the straw pallet atop the leather straps of her bed. |
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By the time they were finished, Holly looked exhausted. |
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"I'm sorry," Mariah said. "You were so energetic today, I nearly forgot all you've been through. Sleep as long as you want tomorrow, and I'll take care of . . . " She hesitated. "Unless, of course, you intend to leave with the settlers." |
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The expression that crossed Holly's face looked longing yet full of pain. "No," she said quietly. "I need to make some decisions about what to do now that I am alone. I still wish to make a new life at the frontier, but after . . . " She tapered off. |
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"Make the decision when you're ready. Thorn won't toss you out." She made herself sound more certain than she felt. "He's more likely to send me on my way now that he has someone who knows what she's doing." |
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"You learn quickly, Mariah," Holly protested. "And I do not think Thorn will send you away. The way he looks at you, with such yearning . . . " She smiled. "I believe you have made a conquest of this quiet warrior. |
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"Fat chance, Mariah thought. |
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Not that she wanted to make such a conquest. |
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But Holly's words sent a small, incongruous shiver of pleasure through her. |
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She said good night and returned to her room. A short while later, lying on her bed in her white nightgown, she realized she couldn't sleep. She hadn't closed the wooden shutters, and moonlight through the paper at the window cast a faint mustard luminescence about the room. She donned the robe that had been in her belongings, slipped her boots on over her bare feet and left the room. |
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She heard the stamping and nickers of the horses in their stalls as she picked her way carefully through the dark stable. |
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