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Page 172

| river, instead of on the side where she made residence. She must have found a way across other than swimming. |

| "Don't worry, Bianca," Sasha said, searching for a sunny spot among the trees to stand in, to ward off the chill that was quickly encompassing her drenched body. "I won't tell a soul what you said." She turned and faced Bianca, her mood somber. "And always feel free to confide in me. It is wonderful to have a woman nearby. I had thought I was the only woman for miles around." |

| Unashamedly, Bianca removed her wet shift and dropped it to the ground. As she dried her stomach, she looked down at it meditatively, then looked slowly over at Sasha. "I fear so for my unborn child," she confessed, then bit her lower lip in frustration when she realized what she had said. |

| Bianca grabbed a dry shift from the ground and quickly slipped into it. "Please forget that I said that," she said, her eyes anxious. "It is only because I am far from the city that I fear for my unborn child. You understand, don't you?" |

| "I believe I do," Sasha said softly, not finding Bianca's reasons for such a fear to be justified. Why had she come to the outback at all? Even married, she could have begged her husband to allow her to stay behind. Her pregnancy would have been reason enough. |

| "My body has only just begun to show that I am with child. I have told no one about my pregnancy," Bianca revealed. She looked quickly up at Sasha, paling. "But of course I have told my husband." She swallowed hard, pulling a dress over her head. "But it is good to have a woman to share this special time |

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