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“Wally, where’re you taking me?” Wally stopped in the center of the trail that led away from the Darcy farm and deep into the surrounding woods. “Don’tch you trust me?” Sally gave him a smile as she pulled up next to him, her skirt hiked up with both hands to keep its bottom edge out of the ice and mud. “Mother told me to never—” Wally’s hand, placed on one of Sally’s, jerked her forward along the trail and cut off her answer. “Well, you can trust me. I’ve got something I want to show you.” Sally huffed along with her guide as they both crested a small rise. “Why can’t you show it to me now?” “‘Cause I don’t have it on me. It’s sitting in the woods, right aabbouut here.” Wally sidestepped off the trail and led his charge into a small clearing with a copper contraption sitting in its center. Sally stared down at the fire sending a column of gray smoke into the matching gray overcast above their heads. “What is it?” “It’s a still.” Wally released the girl’s hand and moved forward to lean over the kettle heating over a small fire. “I’ve been doing a little experimentation with making gin.” “Wally.” Sally stood at the edge of the clearing, her mittened hands held together before her. “Yes?” Wally prompted as he poked at the ebbing fire with an unused tinder stick. “Why are you making booze in the middle of the woods?” |