Thanks for all your help. I think the problem is related to the proximity to the top edge of the board. No proof, and running out of things to look for. Have to get back to work. About thirty of these plaques to do in the next 10 days. Instead of having the machine determine the order of carving which meant that this line was the last line to carve in projects that use 3 separate carvings and takes approx an hour to complete. I am going to separate out this line and carve it first - a 3 min carve, then if it screws up, I waste a board and 3 minutes, not a board and 1 hour. I will probably try a different font. It's almost like the text function is bumping individual characters up and down.
However, if you guys get any more ideas, please send them. I will give it a shot and report back progress later this week.