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Page 10

| ping everywhere from the sky, thunder shaking the earth like dynamite exploding. Excited by this, the pup leapt and leapt into the air, trying to bite the lightning. |

| Thus she had been christened with the name. |

| Ashton pushed the swinging doors open and stepped outside. He elbowed his way through the throng of drunken men, most of whom were dressed in sweat-stained tartan jackets and woolen shirts. Reaching into the horse trough, he dragged Crispin out by the shirt collar, glaring at Rufus with angry eyes. |

| ''Fun's over, mates," he grumbled. "It'll take a month of Sundays to get this stink off you two." |

| With everyone guffawing and pointing at him, Crispin jerked clumsily away from Ashton. His ringlets of wet, dark hair were clinging to his brow, making him look much less than his age of twenty-seven. A mischievous look bounced across a face covered with a coarse, dark stubble of beard. He licked one finger and then another. "Who cares about the smell," he chuckled. "It tastes mighty good." |

| "I hope it'll satisfy your appetite for champagne and all sorts of spirits for some time to come, mates," Ashton said, helping thin and lanky Rufus from the trough. He took a step back when Rufus began to shake the champagne from his body, much the way a dog did after a bath. "Once we're in the outback, working from sunup to sunset, there'll be no drinking except for strong tea and creek water." |

| "So, Ashton? Sasha's agreed to go with us?" Crispin asked, forking his fingers through his tan- |

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