in the parlor. The night life would be be coming out, men of all sorts would be dropping coins in saloons cash drawer. Lacey knelt near the stairs in the fancy house. Her were knuckles white fr

r the evening, but Lacey, claiming a headache, be

lways closed every evening at five. The fact that Mayor Lawrence Vanculon wasn't yet home meant only one thing. He'd stopped by the saloon to lose a few coins. Lacey found it difficult to believe that a man of such social status would be caught drinking in public. Apparently

. "Please father, please let me escape without notice. Please, I beg you to see me safely from this house. Thru Jesus name, Amen." Reaching beneath her bed, Lacey pulled a flour sack out. The flour sack contained an extra dress and set of underclothes. Tied up in two handkerchiefs were several biscuits that she had managed to sneak aw

sociate herself with her father ever again. Lacey couldn't wait for her sister to make enough to send for her and support the two of them. Lacey was more then capable of helping to provide for her own life. Gripping her flour sack in one hand, Lacey tiptoed down the stairs. Murmurs from the kitchen could be heard but otherwise the house remained like a tomb- dark and silent. Determined to escape the haunted life she lived, Lacey eased the door open and peered out.

sk Lily's new life. No, she would wait until she was far enough from her hometown to post the letter to her older sister. In the meantime she would walk. She would walk as f

ched her sister? Would the evenings be too cool for her thin cloak? What if her father discovered her disappearance too soon? He might send out people to search for her before she got far enough away. Her worries would slow her down. She couldn't afford the distraction! Struggling to push her concerns from her mind, Lacey walked on in the night. The darkness made the going slow, but at the same time, it provided a certain comfort that made L