09/03/2026 13:43

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Blaine stepped up beside him andstared down into the open box, and then he looked up again quickly. He would not allow Shasa to touch the controls ofthe winch. She was without weight and he could feelevery bone in her tiny body, like that of a fledgling taken from thenest. The years passed.

The moment Blaine had left her, she had looked around desperately tofind Centaine Courtney, her torment only easing a little when she sawCentaine surrounded by admirers higher in the stand. Centaine screamed on a wild rising note of terror. While the sameboy's elder sister, a year older than Shasa, had shown him somethingeven more remarkable when they had shared a few forbidden momentstogether behind the pumphouse at the mine. When the mine hootersignalled the end of the day shift, Shasa rode down withTwenty-man-Jones in the front seat of his Ford from the washing gear tothe office block.