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Page 292

| answer. "But that ain't all we've got to report, Ashton." |

| Ashton stiffened and inhaled a nervous, shaky breath. His thoughts went to Stanford Sidwell. Surely he had taken advantage of his absence. What the hell sort of havoc had he wrought on his property while he was gone? Ashton would have been surprised even to see his cabin still standing! |

| "Well? Don't take all day," he said, looking from one man to the other. "Give me the bad news. I'm getting used to it." |

| His lips parted and an icy coldness swept through him as he listened to tales of rats and black caterpillars eating their vegetables, and hordes of bright, screaming parrots eating the seeds that had been stored in the barn. |

| Ashton hung his head. Sasha felt helpless. It seemed that not only was Stanford Sidwell against thembut all of nature too! |

| Ashton looked at Crispin. "See to all of this for me," he said. "II just can't take any more today." |

| "It's as good as done," Crispin said, watching in disbelief as Ashton mounted his horse and rode away, his head still down. Never had Crispin seen Ashton so despondent and so willing to give up. |

| Then he watched Sasha quickly mount her horse and ride up next to Ashton, reaching over to touch his cheek while speaking soothing words to him. Crispin was touched to the soul by her show of love for Ashton, and he saw her as Ashton's only true salvation. |

| The sun was lowering in the sky, and the birds were scampering for shelter in the trees outside the |

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