The mountains in the Symonds district had posed problems for even his small band on foot. There was no way to take horses through some of the passes w...thout facing almost certain death.So he had kept them on level ground and skirted the mountains despite the extra time it took. But there was no way around the rocky hills that led down to where the river flowed. He only hoped the paths he had chosen had led them close to the only fordable section of the river he’d found. He wasn’t interested in. ’ she said taking my hand and shaking, it all warm like.This was too good. Put myself out there, been rewarded.‘Nice to meet you.’Me, melt.Try and keep cool bro.‘Bryce?’‘Yeah Bryce.’Me smiling‘Where is zat from?’‘I’m not too sure, my parents are both English, but I was born in New Zealand.’‘Ahh, New Zeelaaand. I hear it is beautiful. How do they say it? It is ze land of ze long vite cloud yah?’Sold.‘Yeah that’s it. It’s fantastic. And you? Where abouts are you from?’‘Guess.’‘Deutchesland?’‘Yah!. In fact, I need to ask you about a name from the past. When I was eleven or twelve years old, I remember you and Uncle Dave talking about Lilli Pederson; about when she left town for a few months when she was in high school and that everybody thought she had gotten herself pregnant." Hell, Tom, there wasn't any 'thought' about it. She was already showing when she disappeared for about six months. The reason there was such a flap about it is because everybody with a lick of sense knew who'd. Evelyn came to the stage and told me about both parties, and gave me a sheet of paper with the birthday-girl’s name on it - and on the back, was the sixteen names of the girls in the college sorority who were actually here for a reunion. I asked if they were all twenty-one and she assured me they were.Some of them look awful young to me, but hell, I’m not even eighteen yet.We waited until the second set to announce the name of the birthday-girl - and the sixteen college girls. By then, all the.