Chapter Four
A chill had risen, in the air and in Duncan’s heart. He was leaving his friends, his comforts, even the books that he usually carried to read at his campfires. He was chasing murder and mayhem and had to be as light and stealthy as possible. At the top of the high ridge overlooking Edentown he paused. Snowflakes tumbled among the spring violets at his feet. An owl, companion of death, hooted in the greyness ahead of him.
He should have left hours earlier, as soon as their search parties had confirmed that the shooters in the forest had fled, but Sarah would not let him set out in the night, and his friends had needed him. Conawago had been shaken deeply, not by the wound in his side but by the loss of young Jess. Despite his injury—a bullet had ripped along his rib cage and
