page_296

< previous page | page_296 | next page >

Page 296

| take her hands. "I'm sorry I frightened you." She searched Bianca's face. The contusions had faded, yet they were still there all the same to remind Sasha of how concerned she had been for Bianca the last time she had seen her. Through all of the nightmare at The Homestead, she had forgotten about Bianca. |

| She felt a pang of regret deep within her soul because of it. |

| "I hoped you would come," Bianca said, her green eyes wide with a hidden fear. "I need to talk to you. Do you have time to listen?" |

| Sasha gazed up through the branches of the trees and saw that the sky was hazed over with purple and orange streaks as the sun dipped lower. Soon it would be dark. The constant threat of dingoes and all sorts of things that crawled around in the outback made her uneasy over the prospect of not getting back to the cabin before night fell in its total blackness. |

| She looked back at Bianca, seeing that she needed her. "Yes, I have time to talk," she murmured. "Before my bath. But only for a few moments, Bianca. We both should return home before it gets much darker." |

| Bianca squeezed Sasha's hands desperately. "What I have to say won't take long," she said in a rush. |

| "What is it, Bianca?" Sasha asked, sensing so much about this woman that made an overwhelming uneasiness creep through her. Surely it was Stanford Sidwell and the rest of the men. Her sheepherder husband was dead. They could all be taking turns at abusing this woman whose life up until |

< previous page | page_296 | next page >