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Show Page 200 The house Richard had built for us to share was the only dwelling still standing, and it only because it was too near the fort for the Indians to safely set it afire. Now the men entered the house, to emerge moments later carrying the foodstuffs Richard and I had gathered and placed within. Then John and Robert Mason appeared carrying my two chests. Glad I was to see the chests, but gladder still to see the foodstuffs, for I feared there was little else left to eat in the settlement, all else having burned. I ran to the gate as the men entered. My throat was dry, my tongue swelled into a useless mass in my mouth. I looked to John, my eyes making a silent appeal. He shook his head, then took my hands in both of his. "There is-no hope," he whispered, his voice breaking. "I pray they died quickly, for I fear they were all in the house when it burned-Walter, Margaret, Twig-Jane." I had forgotten that John, too, had lost his intended. I squeezed his hands as the tears spilled from my eyes. Then I shook my head. "Not Margaret," I told him. "She was not in the house when-when-Rawhunt ..." I could not go on. "Rawhunt?" exclaimed John, his voice rising in disbelief. "I cannot believe he played a part in this." I nodded. "Camohan also." Then I explained how I had come to survive and where I had last seen Margaret, though the |
