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Page 248

| Ashton teetered in his saddle. He stared disbelievingly at Crispin. "His . . . neck . . . broken?" he gasped. He looked away from Crispin, his pulse racing. In his mind's eye he was seeing Rufus laughing and jokingthe gentlest man Ashton had ever known. |

| And now, killed by a flock of sheep? |

| What in life was fair? |

| "Someone killed him, Ashton," Crispin offered bitterly. "He was murdered, Ashton. Murdered!" He swallowed hard. "And those sheep he was in charge of are not among those that are scattering. Those sheep that Rufus was watching are gone! Stolen!" |

| Sasha inched her horse closer to Ashton's. She reached for his hand and clasped it comfortingly. "Ashton, this is so terrible," she murmured, tears swelling in her eyes. She blinked raindrops from her lashes. "Who could . . . ?" |

| She suddenly recalled seeing several horsemen leaving Stanford's sheep station, headed in the direction of the river. Could they . . . ? |

| Now she knew that she had no choice but to tell why she was out in the rain and where she had been. She had to tell Ashton about the horsemen! Perhaps they were responsible for Rufus's murder and the theft of the sheep! |

| "Ashton, I think I may know who is responsible for everything," she blurted out. |

| Ashton looked over at her with squinted eyes. "How could you know anything about this?" he asked, wiping rain from his face with the back of his sleeve. |

| "Ashton, I was over at Stanford's sheep station talking with Bianca andand I saw several men |

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