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Page 293

| cabin. In the distance a dingo barked in staccato fashion. In the pasture, the sheep that had lived through the ordeal of the crows were bleating peacefully. |

| Still in her riding gear, Sasha was sitting on a kangaroo pelt with Ashton in front of a roaring fire in the cabin. Quiet, scarcely breathing, she looked disbelievingly at Ashton as he poured himself another tin cup full of whiskey and drank it down in one swallow. Over and over again he did this, even though his eyes were already bloodshot and he was so drunk he could hardly hold his head up. |

| "I've let you down," Ashton said, his words slurring. He poured another drink and gulped it down. "My sweet little Sasha. I promised so much and am giving so little. I don't blame you if you hate me." |

| Sasha's heart was aching for Ashton. She eased the cup from his hand, the half-emptied bottle of whiskey from the other, and set them aside. Moving to her knees, she wrapped her arms around Ashton, cradling her face against his chest. |

| "Ashton," she murmured. "My darling Ashton. If you're drinking because you feel you are a failure, and you think that I hate you because of it, you are so wrong. Darling, I could never hate you. Don't you see? I love you with all of my heart." |

| She stroked his back lovingly. "As for our sheep station, you knew the risks," she continued softly. "You just didn't expect them to come piling on you all at one time. First Lightning disappears, then Rufus is killed, and now we've seen so much destruction by the birds and caterpillars." |

| She dared not to think of the large cracks that she had seen in the soil, expecting the ravages of a |

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