she had given themantwo weeks tocalm down fromhis anger over almost being hanged , but he hadn'tsoftened onewhitas far as she could tell.it waslooking as though she was about tohaveto make ahard decision , but she had kept putting it off and putting it off.the men , it hadseemedto her whenthey had saidthey wished to speak , had decided they had all waited long enough.but then they had begun to speak , and she hadbeen so shocked by what they saidthatshe was n't sure shecouldhave possibly heard them right .