’ He handed Marge a card. She bowed and she and Janice left. A minute passed in silence before Ann’s car arrived. She was ten minutes late. ‘Com... sit with us Ann,’ He father said. She sat in the chair Marge had been sitting in. ‘Ann, tell me the story about your meeting this morning with Matt and Beth.’ ‘Haven’t they told you?’ ‘Matt hasn’t said ten words since they arrived. We want to let you speak.’ Ann told her story. She made it sound like she and Matt were serious lovers, like they had. He instinctively drew his knife and sat up to face the intruder, only to find Joshua. The sun was rising outside, an unwelcome sight. Oh well, a better night’s sleep wasn’t far off. “Good morning,” Noah said as he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes. Instead of replying, Joshua prostrated himself, bowing with his forehead pressed to the ground.“I do not deserve to be your host. I belittled your profession last night, and then you save not only my life, but the lives of my wife and children. I. "I waited while she sorted through the rags and found an enormous sweater to wear as a bodice. It almost fell off her shoulders and kept one or the other bare most of the time. I wondered if she understood how inviting that looked."Folks died some time back, mine did, five years or so, fever. Ma's sister took us in. When these here popped out," she cupped her small, upright breasts, "her boys started getting frisky, climbing in my bed, poking at me. So." So, where are you going?" Some town,. "Next it will be this house they burn, and you or the kids will be inside it or something." Not true," Callie said. "We're not going to allow that to happen."Cade shook his head. "I can't protect us against someone like Pennington. I'm not sure why I ever thought I could."Callie's heart raced. "The thing is Cade, we aren't in this alone. I realized it yesterday. We have all of our neighbors."Cade scoffed, "They'll lose interest soon enough," and then he added bitterly, "Pennington will see to.