“I know, my dear. But where are we going to stay at night? What are they going to do about that?”
Nobody had an answer to that one.
Rice came to them soon after dawn, and at about eight o’clock Captain Yoniata appeared with four soldiers, who were to be their guard upon the journey. “Today you walk to Ayer Penchis,” he said. “Fine day, easy journey. Good dinner when you get to Ayer Penchis. You will be very happy.”
Jean asked Mrs. Horsefall, “How far is Ayer Penchis?”
“Twelve or fifteen miles, I should think. Some of us will never get that far.”
Jean said, “We’d better do what the soldiers do, have a rest every hour. Hadn’t we?”
“If they’ll let us.”
It took an hour to get the last child out of the latrine and get the women ready for the march. The guards squatted on their heels; it
