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Page 108

| yours. Check them." He nodded toward the men who were off their horses, itching frantically. "Check your blankets. See if they are infested!" |

| Low grumblings and cursings filled the air as blankets were spread out on the ground. Sasha knelt to the ground and examined hers, then looked slowly up at Ashton and smiled awkwardly. "I've never seen so many obnoxious tiny creatures in my life," she said. |

| She rubbed her ankles, wishing for enough privacy to scratch at the juncture of her thighs. "The blankets do seem to be the source of the trouble," she said, as all the men confirmed that their blankets were as infested as hers and Ashton's. "Why, Ashton? Where did the pests come from?" |

| Ashton rose to his full height. He frowned thoughtfully, then his eyes brightened. "Those are sand fleas," he said. "Don't you remember? You spread everything out to dry on the sand. That sand must have been filled with fleas. Those little bloodsuckers probably leaped on our blankets the minute you laid them down." |

| "Blood-suckers?" Sasha said, shuddering. |

| "That's why we're itching so bad," Ashton said, shrugging. |

| "How utterly horrible," Sasha said, gagging. |

| "We'd best get busy ridding ourselves of the creatures while the sun is still high in the sky," Ashton said, pushing his broad-brimmed hat back from his brow to study the position of the sun. |

| "What can we do?" Sasha asked, endlessly scratching. She had easily forgotten that she and Ashton had had differences which had led to silence between them. They were partners again, trying to |

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