" I laughed silently at my cleverness.Yeah, I'm a wit.I'd just squeezed the last drops out of the bags and replaced the top on the kettle, when the do...rbell announced a visitor.I opened the door. To my surprise, it was not a JW or a Girl Scout or some solicitor.It was Trudy, wife of my best friend Brad.Now, Brad and I had known one another since middle school; we'd attended separate colleges, but we'd been in one another's orbits for most of the time since we'd met. He'd married Trudy three. He is a wonderful gentleman, but I fear he may lose interest in me after asking me that question.’ ‘This is why both of you need to talk. Talk till those fears are gone. He will be back in a few days. Why not invite him over for lunch?’ ‘I suppose that will not hurt. Give him some time to adjust when he is back. Do not rush him. I do not want him to think that I am anxious or anything.’ ‘Yes, Miss. I will do that.’ [ Back to dinner with Humbly… ] ‘How have you been, Humbly?’ ‘I have been well,. It was what saved me. What made me go on." He smiles at me, really smiles. I had never seen that before."You ... have changed, more than looks." I say softly but, am still suspicious, I can't help it. My life was turned into a living hell because I dared to care about this man."I am what I should have been had I taken a different path. It is allowed." Vashe sounds so sad and yet ... I wander what he is really trying to do."And what of me?" I had to ask."You are as you have always been, the. I bent, put my hands on his tabletop and said, "Hear you're looking for fighters?" Maybe," he said, nodding at the chair opposite him.I sat. "I'm looking for work, but I only got a pistol." I pulled it out of the back of my belt and put it between us."Awful big knife," the thin man said, gesturing at my bayonet.I smiled at him. "What'cha payin'?" I asked."All y'can steal," he said, "an' all y'can screw." Don' need you to do that," I said, returning his small smile."We're fighting for the King.".