Cass gripped her belt knife so hard the ivory handle pressed painfully into her skin. So, you’re in there. It was only then that she realized the wagons had stopped moving. “What’s going on?”

Thad glanced at her. “Not sure.” Before she could say anything else, several men and women stepped along side the wagons. The children seemed most interested in The Big Iron. Some threw rocks at the bars and ran squealing when they received protests. One little girl stepped close to Cass’s wagon and gazed up at Snowy. She couldn’t have been more than eight or nine. She smiled and tucked her chin in as she swayed with hands on her skirts.

“Five coppers,” the woman behind her said in an accent as she placed hands on the little one’s shoulders. “She know how to please a man.”

Cass held her tongue and glanced at the men. Snowy shook his head. Thad grunted and gave an angry look to the woman who held her hand out for coins. The woman realized no one wanted the girl so she hauled her off in another direction.

“That’s disgusting,” Maesa said. No one argued.

Cass’s face flared with heat. No wonder her father came here, with tidbit girls for the taking. She cursed under her breath and squeezed her belt knife until her fingers went numb. Thad studied her but didn’t say anything. The way she felt, she might have taken his head off if he’d uttered a single word. He wasn’t like her root father. None of the Gypsies were like that awful man. But that didn’t curb her rage.