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Page 298
townspeople. The fragrance of flowers filled the fresh air. Abby laughed and cried to see her sister so radiant on the arm of her handsome, adoring new husbandso like his descendant whom she loved.
Hunwet, the Indian guide, was dressed in a loose white shirt gathered at the sleeves and tied at the neck, a braided leather thong holding his straight black hair from his face. He offered his own blessing on the marriage, which he later translated as "Many days, many children, many acorns." Acorns, the main foodstuff of his Cahuilla tribe, were the seeds of life.
That night, only Abby and her snoring father slept beneath the Wynne wagon. Arlen and Lucy had crept off, of course, to be alone.
The remaining few days of the wagons' journey blended together. Abby had decided to defer her return to the future until she was certain Arlen had fully recuperated. Besides, she wanted to see for herself that her family was settled and happy in their new location, for when she left the next time, she would never come back. But she would spend only a few weeks here, in her own timenot the months or years of Lucy's journal. She would return to Mike much more quickly than that.
Beyond the San Gabriel Mission, the voyagers passed greater numbers of ranches, but the increased density of the population still seemed sparse to Abby. She clutched her canvas bag often, reaching inside for the fossil rock, the hard plastic of the bee sting kit. Only by these tangible

 
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