0bssesed by Him

“You do not know what you are asking,” Eben insisted. “One week, Eben? Just one? Surely you can withstand the

hellish inconvenience for, shall we say, the sake of a thousand dollars?”

Eben had been staring at the toes of his old worn-out boots.

Now, his head came up. “Say again?”

“One thousand dollars. To take my little girl to Pittsburgh, and to see her settled. All she needs is decent lodging.

Someone to look in on her from time to time. To make sure she makes the right choices. In a few years, when she reaches the age of majority, she can marry. It is all I ask from this life

—to know she is in safe, strong hands.”

Eben was imagining how he would cope with a weeping, swooning creature that succumbed to tears and tantrums at the drop of a hat and insisted in indulging in the vapors every five minutes. It was a nightmare scenario, weighed hard against the prospect of a thousand dollars. “This is a bad idea, Henry.

Very bad.”

“Then, I have your word on it? You will protect my Raven from harm? Keep her safe? And see that she is settled in the East?”

“It goes against my grain,” Eben said with a long-suffering sigh. “But aye, I’ll take the chit to civilization and find a niche for her, so that you may die in peace.”

“I’ll have your hand on it, then.”

Henri thrust his bone-filled sack into Eben’s large, strong hand, and gripped hard. “It is done. May God bless you and keep you, my friend.”

Eben smiled a grim smile. “May God have mercy on my soul.”