after him, and then let him go. We’ll hide you, lass, and tell him you ran off,” said Baer decisively.
Shael nodded and set to work.
The note on the empty bed was tear-splashed.
“Dear Papa Baer and Mamma Mae,
Please forgive me. I have to go. Please don’t try to follow me. I will come back someday if I can. I wish that you really had been my mother and father. Merthly was right. If I ever have any, I won’t let my children be brought up like that either.”
It was signed “Love, Kim” the name she had written as her own when they asked her what they should call her. She had taken nothing but the little that she had come with.
“Too slow. I’m too old.” The lined face was twisted in