"I'll go first," she said, grinning confidence into the others. "I'm not likely to bring out the beast in them." She waved herself out, letting the grin set and jell.
It was odd to feel light. She'd felt too heavy as far back as she could remember. Not fat heavy. Bone heavy.
The sweat on her face dried suddenly. She could feel it, like something being peeled off her skin. Arid climate.
It was cold. But she had the warmth to meet it.
There they were! Forty men. There were supposed to be forty. What if one of them had died! Who would go back?
"Not me," Annie prayed to herself. "Dear God, not me." She tried to count them. But they moved around so!
They were looking at something. Not Annie. The girl coming down the ramp behind Annie.
It was Sally, with the blonde hair on her shoulders. That's all they'd be able to see from there. The blonde hair.
But a man was coming forward. He had a tam-like hat pulled low to good-humored eyes, and an easy stride.
"Wait, Ben," one of the other men said. "See the others."