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bolts already had begun to stalk toward them over the hills. When the muttering grew inexorably toward an open argument, Cass used the opportunity to ram her elbow suddenly into the stomach of the man holding her. He grunted and swayed backward in the saddle, and she jabbed him again before he could recover. She slid to the ground, raced between the startled horses, and dove into the darkness that the forest provided. She heard delayed shouts, and a single shot that wrenched a knot in her stomach. Instantly there was a wild thrashing as they tried to follow her with their horses, then curses when they had to dismount and pursue on foot. She raced deeper into the woods, fear of what would happen if they should catch her overcoming the rage that had prompted her escape. Branches slapped, stinging across her face before she could lift a hand to stop them, thorns tore unmercifully at her arms and legs. She had no idea of the direction of her flight, only a prodding terror that kept her moving ahead of the others. She swerved sharply several times, stumbling once across a shallow creek, plunging onward with a slowly growing hope when suddenly a root entangled itself around her ankles and she fell headlong onto the forest floor. Scrambling with her fingernails, she regained her feet, only to be tripped again. Sobbing in frustration, she gripped a sapling’s thin trunk and pulled herself up, then threw herself into a run that took her only a dozen paces before a heavy weight thrust itself against her legs and she was driven hard to the earth. The air burst from her lungs and she cried out involuntarily at the glaring lights that sprang burning into her skull. She tasted dirt and blood, and was tossed roughly onto her back while her hands were pinned over her head.
    “Ya damned bitch!” a coarse voice snarled. “You’re gonna need a hell of a lot of tannin’, that’s for damned sure!”
    “Have you got her, Josh?” a voice called out.
    “Over here, Bobbie!” The voice turned foully triumphant. “Cal, bring me that lantern so’s we can see what a damned Yankee whore looks like.”
    Cass struggled silently, knowing what was coming and fighting with what little strength she had left to prevent it. It should not have been this way, she told herself desperately, fearfully; it should be gentle, on a thick down mattress with warm quilts and a fire that burned both log and being. It should be on cool nights with Geoffrey—but there was little she could do now but postpone the inevitable.
    The lantern was brought, and thrust toward her face. She twisted helplessly away and squinted against the harsh light until her eyes adjusted and she was able to see clearly the face of the man who had abducted her.
    Lightning flashed, was answered by companion thunder, and the clearing where she had been caught was bathed momentarily in a blue-white glare.
    Josh was obviously little older than she, but his rounded face was streaked with caked dirt and stubbled with a straggly beard as black as the shadows that veiled his eyes; Bobbie, who had poked his leering face over Josh’s bony shoulder, was like enough to Josh to be his twin, but when he grinned Cass could see that he had lost most of his teeth to blackened gums, and there was a soiled, stiff bandage wound about his head and padded thickly over his right ear. The other one, Cal, stayed clear of the light, but she could easily imagine the sinister, hungry look on his battle-scarred face.
    “You’re a fighter, no doubt about it,” Josh said. His drawl was slow, mocking, and when Cass suddenly bucked to test his grip he held on tightly and spat to one side. “That captain of yours, he treat you right, did he?”
    “Bastard!” she said, and closed her eyes quickly in an expectant grimace. Instead of striking her, however, he only laughed.
    “Farm gals sure are tough up around here,” he said. Then, lower and more fiercely, “Hold her good, Bobbie. Hold the little bitch good. I