She felt frozen in limbo where all decisions and actions evaded her. Strange and disquieting thoughts had plagued her all through the night, and she’d awakened this morning sick with the struggle inside. Now as she observed the two leaders of the competition, a small glimmer of hope helped raise her chin and muster all the dignity she could. Caleb and one other man were in the lead. At ax throwing, both men had hit the bull’s-eye on the target. Caleb had climbed and cut the top out of a tree faster than anyone else. The other man, named Marcus, had split more wood than Caleb. He’d only won by one log but he’d still won. And now, it looked as if Caleb was using all the strength he had to fell a tree before Marcus. She admired the way the muscles in his back and shoulders bulged as he worked the saw against the tree. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face and into his eyes. Still, he continued to bunch his muscles and saw at the tree. It was as if demons drove him to finish before anyone else.
