Chapter 36
"Maeve!" Jumping off her horse, Cate ran to Maeve and embraced her so hard they nearly toppled over.
"Oh, Catie, I knew you'd come."
"Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" Cate looked at Maeve's torn blouse and then pulled Maeve to her before she could respond. She wept, out of fear, out of a sense of relief, out of all the emotions that had been swimming inside her since she spoke with Jessie. She could not find any words, any at all, to express how she felt, so she just cried.
Finally, when Maeve could no longer breathe, she gently pulled away and brushed the tears from her face. "It's all right, now, Catie. We're all right."
Nodding, Cate tried to compose herself. "I--it--Jessie--"
Maeve nodded slowly. "Ah, I see."
"In a dream, one of my memories of this awful event forced its way to her. She told me what was happening, so we grabbed what horses we could and rode all night."