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Page 234

| was not miscalculating the firmness of the clay beneath her horse's feet as she began inching Cloud across it. On each side of her, the river gleamed like a large hand mirror, lightning reflecting off it in deep purple flashes. |

| The wind moaned around her, and the air was muggy with the approaching rain. Sasha was glad to finally reach the other side, but she could not shake off the paralyzing dread that had seized her at the thought of bringing herself face to face with Stanford Sidwell again. Now that she knew of his criminal activities, she could not help but feel dispirited and uneasy. |

| Touching the rifle thrust into her gunboot, Sasha took from its nearness the courage that had driven her this far to check on Bianca's welfare. "I pray that I am worrying for naught," she whispered to herself. |

| A hare burst from a clump of grass ten yards away and raced for heavy cover, causing Sasha's heart to palpitate wildly. |

| Then, feeling foolish for letting herself be frightened so easily, she rode onward, then drew her horse into a gentle lope as she spied Stanford's cabin across a straight stretch of open field up just ahead. |

| With a sense of uneasiness hovering over her, she continued toward it, her gaze moving slowly around her. She did not see very many sheep grazing close to the cabin. Nor did she see a sheepherder tending the meager flock. And as she drew closer to the cabin, she discovered that it was cruder than her own, apparently just thrown together, as though it was meant only to be temporary. |

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