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Page 63

| trees outside gave off queer noises as the breeze stirred through them. |

| And then fear quickened her heartbeat. She raised up on an elbow, leaning her ear toward the side of the tent. She listened intently, having heard what sounded like men's voices breaking through the silence of the night. She had thought that everyone else was asleep. |

| Wanting to investigate, Sasha slipped from her bedroll and crawled around the sleeping dingo pup to the opening at the front of the tent. Her heart thudding, her mouth dry from fear, she stuck her head out and peered slowly from side to side. She looked toward the forest, where the shadows made a blue and purple jungle, seeing nothing. She looked heavenward. Clouds were thickening around the moon, giving an eerie radiance to the night. |

| Then she looked cautiously around her again, no longer hearing anything that resembled voices. Had she been imagining things? Did the outback cause the mind to play tricks? |

| Or had it been the touch of the wild wind whispering through the trees? |

| Determined to find out, she crawled on her hands and knees from her tent across the crushed and tangled brush that led to Ashton's. When she reached his tent, she slowly lifted the flap and crawled inside. She was jolted with alarm when he bolted suddenly to a sitting position, then gave a startled gasp when he discovered Sasha in the shadows, staring at him. |

| ''What the?" he said, squinting his eyes as he gazed up at her. "Why are you here? Is something wrong?" |

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