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tion and her ability to snatch time from their arduous journeyand now from Arlen's wooingto maintain the record of their trip as she had sworn to do when they set off. |
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Holding up her beige skirt, Abby climbed into the wagon. The belongings of the Wynne family were packed tightly inside, from the important farming tools to help them begin their new life to the precious silver tea service cradled in a large pocket inside the wagon's canvas cover. The tea set had belonged to their mother and was Lucy's now. By habit, Abby touched its pocket for luck as she extracted from a neat stack beneath it a reed basket and small knife. She stared at the canteen hanging in one corner, then allowed herself the tiniest sip of water. After all, she rationalized, she would be looking for materials that could benefit all the travelers. Before she could find an excuse for drinking more, she left the wagon and ventured from the encampment. |
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The towering mountains shone in parched shades of gold and brown in the beating sun. The defecting travelers had headed in the direction of the known pass through the mountain range, perhaps ten miles to the south. Abby walked the opposite way, where the plant life seemed more plentiful. She had been surprised, when the wagon train had entered the desert, to learn that the arid ground produced abundant plant life. Some vegetation was tall, like the green, prickly cactus and gnarled joshua trees. Most, though, grew low in shades of dusty brown and dark green that would have meant, on the farm back |
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