Each time she closed her eyes the image of Rance lying in a spreading pool of his own blood returned with stark horror. Dead. The word ripped its way through her mind, stunning her with grief. Dead, and only moments after they had both realized how deeply they really loved one another. It was unspeakably cruel. She silently cursed the God who had let this happen. She no longer cared whether they ever reached Alabama. She did not care if Kaid made good his frequent threats to kill her. She numbly did as she was told, riding the train, being tossed up onto a stolen horse once they reached Wilmington, riding through swamps and woodlands with the sun beating down fiercely. At night, Kaid would camp far away from the main roads, forcing her to eat whatever he could kill in the woods. A rabbit. A squirrel. Once, there was only a rattlesnake, cooked over a fire after it was skinned. He would laugh evilly. “Me and you are gonna be together for a long, long time. We made a deal. I take you back to that fancy plantation of yours, and then me and you just might even get married.” Strangely, he never tried to touch her, not ever.
