The morning of our departure dawned and we all trooped up to Railway Farm. The berths in the sleeping car had been altered, the bunks removed and the ...loor of each berth was covered with a king size mattress. Cupboards had then been fitted high up to store things. Scott had done the work and we complemented him as it would make life more comfortable for the family groups.Scott then got me on his own and asked me about a girlfriend. Initially I was going to give him the 'You're too young' talk. No more then 25 ears old. Her face was pale. Her long auburn hair was matted. She looked very frightened. Her long legs were bare. There was a terrible swelling just above her right knee. Dark blue. On her left thigh, an uglier bruising was reaching her hip. Her chin was trembling. She clutched fists and closed her eyes. A barely audible moan escaped her mouth."It isn't half so bad. We reduced the fractures. There is no need of surgery," the doctor said mildly."It hurts a lot," the girl. That's the best thing for sure."And Ryan did stop ... at least for a while. In fact, it wasn't his own desires that brought the thought of self-stimulation back to him. He came home from school after basketball practice a few days later and as usual, went straight to his room. After throwing his book bag on the floor in its usual spot, Ryan flopped onto his bed to recuperate for a few minutes from the grueling practice. When he put his hands behind his head, he slipped one under the pillow to. “It’s a date, then!” he would reply to her giggles.Every morning, before school, she and her mom would be out in the yard or in the greenhouses tending the plants and nibbling the edibles as their breakfast. Kayle would grab her books and head out on her skateboard to the nearby school. Her mom would pick her up in the afternoon, and they would head to the nearby forests to look for interesting plants. Karen worked as a naturalist for the state government, so she had permission to work out in.