"Mummy's baby boy!" she called. The happy eyes faded last from her sight and it seemed to her they summoned her thence. A moment more, she stood shivering, staring into the shadows, and, then, she turned upon the dark-browed men.
"You said I could do anything I wanted to with 'er, eh?"
"Yep," Brewer assented. "Beat 'er, kill 'er, the more the better for us-uns."
"Then give me a blanket to wrap her in. I'll take her home where—where—Boy—died."
Brewer's lips fell apart and he laughed evilly.
"Good idee, brat," he said. "Ye can make it a thousand times worser for the kid if ye do.... Get a blanket, Ma."
Carefully, the girl wrapped the blanket around and around the little one. Elsie whimpered disconsolately but made no objection. Anything was better than being left with the men who tied her up. Lifting the bulky bundle, Tess started for the door, Jake picked up the whip from the floor, handed it to her.
"Ye're forgettin' somethin' ain't ye, brat? Ye'll be wantin' this, I'm thinkin'," he chuckled.
"I can't ever thank you all enough," she flung back hoarsely, tucking the whip into her coat pocket, "for giving me this chance at Waldstricker."
Longman got up and opened the door and Tess stepped out into the storm, carrying Waldstricker's daughter.