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Page 249
Donald away. Besides, she thought, maybe this will solve the problem. I can tell Rose-Anne I'm not interested, just friendly; maybe she'll pass the message along even if she doesn't completely believe me.
"Who were you looking for?" Rose-Anne asked as they walked past the gazebo.
"I wasn't looking for anyone," Linda hedged, as they went through the garden gate and began to climb a rather steep path.
"Come off it," Rose-Anne snapped. "I was watching you."
"That's nice," Linda replied sarcastically.
Either she had managed to put Rose-Anne at a disadvantageor the precipitous path had silenced her. Linda's own breath was coming rather short when Rose-Anne stopped suddenly. Linda took another step and then stopped too. Rose-Anne's eyes were angry, and her mouth was set in a hard, unhappy line. Uncomfortably, Linda glanced down the path and saw with a shock that it had taken so sharp a turn that the house, the garden, and the lower part of the path itself were completely hidden from view. Slightly alarmed by the growing fury on Rose-Anne's facethe woman was certainly larger and stronger than she wasLinda took a hasty step backward.
"Be careful!" Rose-Anne cried, catching at her.
Linda gasped when she realized that the path was still turning and her backward step had carried her dangerously close to the edge. "This

 
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