She had watched her friend meanly whipped and knew that her captor was capable of great cruelty. She had no illusions as to why she was caged, naked, in his sumptuous bedroom. She had no courage to resist. For her son, she must live. As impossible as it might seem, she knew that she could not give up hope of being reunited with him and her loving husband. She would be dishonored, probably cast out from her home, as if she was complicit in her own ravishment. But she could live to see them, could hope for mercy and understanding from her husband; she knew she would get none here.
Stoner approached the cage where his new captive crouched fearfully. He knew that the girl almost certainly had no English, but was sure that the ever efficient Jeremiah had instructed her on her new duties. He ra
