29
Wait, she cried out in her mind.
Margaret stumbled down the hillside as the priest's dark form disappeared over the crest of the next rocky hill.
Wait for me, she prayed, lifting her feet in the struggle to keep pace.
A goshawk circled above the next ridge, but it was just a dark blur to her. Her head was still spinning, and the scream in her chest came out as a strangled moan.
Wait! Wait for me!
She had not said a word since they had left the abbey, but he was not truly surprised. As short as their visit there had been, Gavin was certain that Joanna had been deeply affected by this encounter with Mater. And there was no question in his mind that the old woman had been touched as well.
They had already gone over the crest of the hill, leaving the valley and the abbey behind them.
