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All traces of the wounded soldier she'd helped were gone. Hunter was strong and confident now as he talked with the men around him, explaining all the workings of his wonderful balloon. He reminded Perry of a handsome buccaneer preparing to board his ship. The white collar of his shirt stood in sharp contrast to the golden tan of his face. He'd removed his jacket and thrown it among the supplies with the recklessness of an excited child. His vest fit closely across his chest, emphasizing his narrow waist and wide shoulders. The need to touch him was. as painful within her as any of her wounds.

Perry watched as the man who had ridden up with Hunter moved closer. "We enjoyed your visit," John Williams said as he stood close to his grandson. "Maybe after you marry your little lady next month, both of you could pay us a visit."

"I know Jennifer would love it here. We'll plan a trip down before Christmas."

Perry watched as the two men embraced. She marveled once again how only time distorted the mirror image. As they pulled apart, John reached inside his coat pocket and handed Hunter an envelope. Hunter slipped the letter into the top of his vest an instant later. None of the men around them could have seen the curious exchange unless they were standing between Hunter and the basket. She thought it might be interesting to see what a letter passed so inconspicuously would contain. If it had been only a casual item, the two men would not have passed it so secretively. She found it hard to believe the gentle John Williams capable of anything less than honorable. The letter must have been only a personal note, nothing more.

As the grounding ropes kept pulling it to earth, Perry could feel the balloon struggling in a tug-of-war to lift the basket. A sadness filled her as John Williams's words seeped into her tired mind. The thought of Hunter's upcoming marriage to the hateful blonde woman caused long-held tears to fall. After seeing Jennifer, Perry wouldn't wish the sharp-tongued girl on anyone. From the conversation she'd just heard, it was obvious Hunter still planned to marry Jennifer. Perry couldn't explain why she felt such pain-a thousand times greater than that of her physical injuries-welling inside her. After taking care of Hunter when he was near death, she felt he was once again in grave danger, and this time no doctor or medicine could help him.

Within the hour, amid shouts and cheers, Perry felt the balloon lift into the sky. She heard Abram and Hunter moving about as the voices below faded. The ride was smooth, like sitting in a huge swing and letting the air push gently back and forth.

Another hour passed before Hunter relaxed. "Let her float, Abram. We're finally heading right. I think we've caught the current."

Abram cleared his throat. "Hunter, I've something to tell you." He began moving the boxes away from Perry's hiding place.

"Don't tell me you forgot something." Hunter laughed.

"No, I'd have to say we added something," Abram said as he carefully lifted the blanket.

Perry pulled her hat low as she sprawled out from under the hot folds of wool. She was aware of how wretched she appeared in her old dirty clothes and covered with coal dust. Both her hands and feet were covered with dried blood, and her right eye had swollen closed while she'd slept.

Shock showed only briefly on Hunter's face before he smiled. Sparks twinkled in his gray eyes like flint striking. "Well, my lord, it's the kid. Perry, you look a little the worse for wear. What are you doing here?"

She kept her head low and pushed her small, dirty fist forward. She turned her palm up and opened her hand, revealing Hunter's necklace. The metal sparkled like a gold nugget in a muddy river. "I'm askin' for the favor back, sir." Her voice was low, barely above a whisper.

Hunter made no attempt to accept her offer as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the basket. "How could I refuse? If I said no, we'd have to throw you out like a bag of sand." Making a short bow, he added, "Welcome aboard my airship, Northern Star."

Perry raised her eyes to him. She saw a cringe of pain pass through him as he observed her misshapen face. "What happened to you, Perry?" he asked with tenderness and caring in his voice.

Perry lowered her face and began her planned plea. "My grandfather beat me, so I'm running away. Can I go with you to Philly like before? I got a friend there."

"Sure you can, and kid, keep the necklace as a gift, now that we're square. We'll make much better time, if the wind is with us, than we did last time in the wagon." Hunter paused in deep thought. "I want to stop as close as we can to the barn you found me in and pick up my uniform jacket, if it's still there. I don't remember much, but I think I buried it in the hay before I collapsed." Hunter was speaking more to himself than to anyone else.

Perry nodded in agreement, even though she knew she had no say in where the balloon might float. She'd almost forgotten the leather packet belonging to her mother, also buried in the loft. If they got close enough to the barn, she could pick it up too. It was all she had left of her home or her mother. With her grandfather's door closed to her, she badly needed that last tie to home.

The wind stayed with them, blowing the huge balloon above the land along a northern course. Perry spent most of the afternoon watching the countryside drift by. She watched Hunter as he constantly played with instruments and maps. It was fascinating how Abram and Hunter maneuvered the huge balloon. Hunter explained to her that by traveling up and down in the air, they passed wind currents. He called them highways of the air. The balloon might not always travel exactly where they intended, but it didn't just drift aimlessly, as most people thought.

"How high up are we?" Perry asked, her fears forgotten as she watched miles of country passing gently below her.

Hunter shrugged. "About a mile up right now, I'd say. We could go up a great deal higher, but after a while the air gets thin and cold."

Hunter stepped to Perry's side of the basket as he continued talking. "A few years ago a couple of scientists from England decided to see how high they could go. They got to about twenty-eight thousand feet. It got so cold, the instruments froze. They claim to have reached almost seven miles up. The temperature was well below zero, and one, an older man named Glaisher, passed out. If Coxwell, his companion, hadn't been able to untangle the cord running to the gas-release valve, both men would have died. Coxwell's hands were so frozen, he had to pull the cord with his teeth."

Watching as Hunter returned to his instruments, she decided the only times she'd heard him put more than two sentences together were the times he'd talked of ballooning. How could he ever have gotten involved with a woman like Jennifer? In her wildest thoughts she could never imagine Hunter and Jennifer arguing like the blonde and the young man in the hospital hallway had. She couldn't imagine Hunter and Jennifer together at all. A quiet goodness centered about him, deep in the passions of his work. Jennifer was a self-centered woman who obviously used her beauty to manipulate people.

Not wanting to think about them together, Perry studied the land moving slowly by, as if someone were pulling a crazy patchwork quilt from underneath them-only the quilt never ended but kept revealing new patterns to the observers above. Someday, Perry promised herself, when she was old, she'd make a crazy quilt of these earth colors. She would lie on it and dream of the day she'd spent drifting among the clouds. The pain of her body mattered little as she flew with the birds, high above all the problems of the world.