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Although it would help if someone would tell the ugly old son of a gun that she demanded to see him. |
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But who could say if he was still at Harrigan's after all this time? |
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Besides, whether or not the duel was the "grievous wrong" Pierce had sent her to right, she was going to right it anyway. |
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She looked at the wall where Thorn's old uniform still hung and sighed. |
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The raised voice from the doorway startled Mariah, and she grabbed for the bed to keep from falling. "I'm getting up on my own for a change, that's what." |
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"Not with this, you won't." She glanced significantly toward the chamber pot that stood in all its ugly pottery glory beside the foot of the bed. She was still mortified that, during her fever, people she cared about had had to change the bed clothes beneath her, but since she'd begun to heal Holly had helped her in and out of bed to take care of necessities. Even that was embarrassing for someone accustomed to using flush toilets without assistance. |
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But now Holly and René were gone, left early that morning for the trading post. They'd insisted on waiting to make sure Mariah was healing, not leaving until two days after they'd begun talking of their trip. |
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"All right," Thorn agreed, his deep voice meek from his own discomfort. "I will leave you alone." |
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But before he left, Mariah said, "There's one thing I would like you to help me with." |
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"I need a bath. Will you accompany me to the stream later? I'm nervous about going there alone." |
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He appeared shocked. "Washing is not good for a convalescing person." |
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"In my time, we know that bathing is essential in the healing process. People have learned the importance of sanitation." |
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