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and Mariah shuddered at the Shrill, ugly sound. |
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Will, the young man Mariah now thought of as Billy, sat at the next table. He wiped his scrawny beard with the back of his sleeve. "You aren't going to invite that coward to join us, are you, sir?" |
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"Why not?" Maitland asked. "If the Indians attack, we can always use Thorn as a shieldif he isn't already off somewhere making eyes at a squaw." |
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Mariah cringed as everyone laughed except Ainsley. And Thorn. He stood at the bar, wiping clean tankards that had been in use already that morning. Only the narrowing of his eyes betrayed the fact that he'd heard. What did he feel? Hurt? Rage? Why didn't he say anything? |
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This was the group of guests to whom Mariah had hoped he'd never need to play host again, she reminded herself. No wonder he tended to avoid his customers when René didn't nag him. |
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"Seriously, Thorn," Ainsley rose and joined his friend, "we would like you to help us find these settlers. For their own good, so we can get to them before the Indians." Ainsley gave a cultivated shudder and crinkled his turned-up nose. "We saw what other renegades have done over the last weeks with homesteaders who crossed their paths." |
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Would Thorn actually go with them? The idea made Mariah quake insidefor him, and for herself. Though Matilda had left the safety of the screenplay's inn when she was captured and Mariah had no intention of going anywhere, anything could happen with Thorn away. |
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And Mariah knew full well that real life here didn't always follow the script. |
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"I regret to say I cannot come." Thorn sounded not at all regretful, and Mariah smiled with relief at the stack of trenchers she carried. "If the Indians are on as much of a rampage as you say, I must stay to defend my inn." |
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"Tell you what," Ainsley said. "You have little to finish on your palisade, and we need your tracking abilities. If you promise to come, we will first complete your fortress, and then I will leave a small cadre of troops here to protect your home." |
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