Unlike his natural habitat, he and the wilderness had come to a respectful understanding years ago, and they had long enjoyed an easy, peaceful existe...nce with one another. Brett admired the beauty of the island as he carefully guided the canoe into a small landing near the cabin an hour later. It was late afternoon, and Brett moved quickly, wanting to get situated before sun set. He unloaded and secured the canoe before heading up to the cabin. He also went through the cabins’ checklist,. So early next morning we set off with about an 8 hour trek to the planned campsite. Making good progress most of the day we found that our great leader for the weekend had missed the one and only path down off the plateau down to the valley where we were due to camp. It was approx. 1hours back along the track and 2 hours down so we decided to camp where we were. Even though we were getting low on water. Next morning our leader took several empty winecask bladders and went back to where we knew. She could hear the disappointment and resignation in his voice. ‘But he died last Christmas,’ she said. There was a pause before David took up the conversation again. ‘I’m sorry for your loss. I didn’t marry again myself. I had just been divorced, if you remember. But after that weekend I couldn’t marry again—anyone else.’ ‘Oh.’ ‘Say, would you like to join me for a cup of coffee?’ Katherine laughed—but it was a nervous laugh. ‘I just did that and it wasn’t the best idea.’ ‘You were breaking up. It could have been much worse.Still, it was bad enough. I was going to be laid up for a while. I hadjust moved into a newly converted apartment up on the top floor of anold four storey building in London. It had been a Victorian workhouse atone time with four wings built around a central courtyard. It was aperfect fit for my bachelor lifestyle; two double bedrooms, new kitchen,big lounge and a wet room. The big feature was floor to ceiling windowsin the living room which looked out over a.