* * * The doorbell rang and everyone looked at Willis. He was dressed semi-formally, as was everyone else. ‘Er am I meant to get the door?’ ‘Yes...’ came the chorus. Everyone stood to get a better view of the mystery woman. Willis opened the door and said ‘Jesus.’ Those inside the room with good hearing heard a lovely voice say, ‘Actually it’s Monique.’ ‘Please come in Monique. You look yummy.’ ‘Why thank you kind sir.’ Into the room brushing past Willis came a vision dressed in a short. “Hello,” there was a pause, “Mel, are you there?” Mel noticed it was a female voice and yet somehow knew her name. She slipped quietly out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs. The figure through the porch screen drifted away as Mel made her way down the stairs.Just as her final step reached the ground floor a voice came in from the open window, “you must be Mel, hi, I’m Lisa. Mel spun toward the voice and there from her shoulders upwards, framed like a portrait, with thick ruby red. It took us less than two hours to reach St Joseph, but it took us another hour to find our wagons. Finally, a man told us there appeared to be a wagon train forming up on the northeast side of town.Andy was the first person to see us as we rode into camp. Delia was helping her mother with something and had her back turned to us. Sam was in an animated conversation with Abby O'Connell and they were watching the babies as they talked.Andy gave us a big smile and started toward us. Then Sam looked. ....Oops, sorry. I guess I got ahead of myself. I should go back and explain what got me in this position....After my hitch in the Navy I sent what I could not carry on my Harley back to my c***dhood home. I had planned a cross country ride to visit parts of America I had spent 4 years defending. It was a slow journey, no schedule, no deadlines, just open road and places to see. That journey is a whole story in its self so I will skip ahead to when I arrived back home 2 months after leaving.