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Page 180
René handed Mariah the cornmeal and pot and explained how to mix it with water and cook it over the fire. He glanced up while arranging the salt pork in the pan. Thorn watched Mariah as she mixed the porridge. He must not have known René observed him, for there was a yearning in his expression that amazed René.
Thorn was attracted, too. This would not do. He could withstand no further anguish from a woman. This Mariah, however much René liked her, would never stay in this wilderness inn. René cleared his throat. "Are you going with the settlers this morning, Mariah? That Francis Kerr said he hoped you would change your mind."
She tossed a guilty glance at Thorn. Good! Perhaps she was considering leaving.
But she said sadly, "I'd go if it would save them from being hurt by the soldiers, but I doubt I'd be any help."
Thorn snorted. "Oh, yes. That tale of yours about the soldiers. It was fascinating, and this group might in fact be tracked by those attempting to enforce the law. But to insist that they will be attacked and.injured"
"Absurd, I know," she interrupted. "But though my knowledge isn't exact, I know things before . . . " She stopped, looking at Thorn and then at René in horror, as though expecting them to accuse her of witchery.
René wondered what she had been intending to reveal. Was she a witch? It did not matter to him, but it might to others. He had never spoken to Thorn about his beliefs about such beings but suspected that his friend and employer, who had put so much of civilization behind him, cared not whether someone was a blasphemer or a sorcerer.
But so long as Mariah did not hurt Thorn, René wished her no ill. He only hoped she would bite her tongue, not suggest to others that she might have powers beyond those given to man by God.
They remained silent for a while, the sole sound in the room the sizzling of the fragrant salt pork and the scraping as Mariah, kneeling on the hearth, stirred the simmering porridge.
Noise sounded from the common room. The settlers were

 
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