Chapter SixteenThe harvest party was in full swing. Rosa stood in the corner of the barn and nursed her cider. The animals had been cleared from the building, and fresh hay scattered throughout. Couples laughed and talked as they danced to the music played by the five-piece swing band Basil had hired. Two doors propped across sawhorses were covered with cured meats and fresh, cooked vegetables. Guests walked the length of the make-shift table and heaped succulent food onto their plates.
Basil stood near the doorway chatting with Mr. Sullivan and Mrs. Pennington, the local billeting officer. The woman bent her svelte figure toward the men while giggling and tossing her hair. Widowed when her rich, older husband died after the horse he was riding failed to negotiate a jump, she seemed to be
