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him false hopes. Her own hopes were fragile enough. |
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She had one consolation, though. She would see her family again. |
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"Tell Mike I'll be thinking of him." She gave Hannah a final squeeze, then ran off down the path. |
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Wading across a shallow stream, she soon located the ancient Indian campsite, now little more than indentations on the ground. From her bag she pulled out her maps so she could reach a fist-sized rock covered with small, fossilized sea creatures. She had bought it to keep with her for just this occasion when she last visited The Nature Company a couple of weeks earlier. |
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She sat in the middle of one of the circles, touching its sides and clutching the fossils. Would she still have the shamanlike power that had let her travel to this time? "Please," she said aloud. "People where I come from need my help. Let me return." |
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Her mind reached out for the ancient Indian magic of this site and her fossilized rock. As once before, her skin began to tingle. The ground seemed to move; the earth beneath her fingers grew hot. |
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Her mind began to spin, its circling mirroring the swirling wind that blew about her, whipping up dirt and leaves until she could see nothing. |
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She slipped sideways to the ground, unconscious. |
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