The ladies took flight, just moments before the mob ascended around the campfire. Little but panic judged their hastened steps and stumbles, and it didn’t take long for them to loose track of each other. Maria was barely keeping up with Cynthia when she vanished in a flash right in front of her. Disbelief in what she saw lasted only a moment before she too lost her footing and began tumbling down to the bottom of a large gully where her final bounce and roll landed her squarely atop Cynthia. They both scrambled to their feet, and the two bruised, but determined women picked up where they left off.

They ran for several minutes before coming upon a thicket. They stopped and quickly assessed the situation. The fog was fair, the moon was small, the gully was deep, and the chances of the mob finding them under this growth was very slim. “We should hide here for a few hours, the mob will grow tired and we can sneak back into town before morning.” Maria was inclined to agree with her. Both girls were very tired, and Maria’s movements were still impaired from giving birth. So they crawled in on their stomaches as deeply as they could into the brush and waited.

After an hour of nothing their hearts were pounding a little less and their wounds were hurting a little more. They began whispering back and forth wondering what happened to the others. They quickly silenced by the glow of firelight through the fog on top of the North ridge. They could barely hear the footsteps and occasional whispers as they slowly passed by. They held their breath as they looked for their friends in the crowd, but they never got close enough to tell. Cynthia leaned in and whispered to Maria, “I’ve got to get closer, I have to know.” Maria sharply whispered “wait” and grabbed her arm, but Cynthia just wiggled free and crawled out.

Maria could barely breath as she watched Cynthia crawl up the hill toward the men above. She felt guilty for staying behind, but she couldn’t will herself to move, so she watched. When Cynthia finally reached the top the fire glow was out of site and she was too late. Both disappointed and relieved she motioned down the hill to Maria that it was clear. Maria paused for just a moment, but decided to herself that if not now, then when. So she started to the top of the hill to meet Cynthia and make their way back to town.