Chapter 17Although it was late, well past midnight, Mari continued to read. The tale was one she could not put aside, one which totally captured her attention. The small book, covered with fading flowered fabric, had narrow lined pages. So far, each page was covered with flowing, half-scribbled writing. In those lines she read the answers to a hundred questions, some she had not even thought to ask. Certain entries stood out, as if they were written in scarlet instead of black or blue.
There is no way I can face Mom and Daddy with this. Their darling baby daughter is going to be an unwed mother. I think they’d either die on the spot of apoplexy or have me killed before they’d face the world and confess it. I am going to have to leave, very soon.
Got as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico toda
