As she starts to get back in I say, “No. Put these trainers on and lock the gate.” I drive through with Jill standing stark naked at the gate. She...locks it and then gets into the car. We kiss as I help myself to a loving feel of her body. She can hardly sit still as I drive deeper into the forest. Having worked here all week I know the interior of the forest well. I abandon my car and collecting the rucksack and picnic basket we walk down a path I had cleared yesterday. Jill stays close. She was reliving all the things that had happened.“I told the police everything when I got out of the hospital and I don’t think any of them believed me, except Detective Clay. He is a nice man, he helped me hide and took care of things for me, but he didn’t have to, it wasn’t part of his job or anything, he just took care of me. And you know what; he didn’t expect anything in return.” She seemed surprised by that. Annie sat on the sofa and rubbed her eyes. “I need to shower,” she said like. "So I put it back and pushed. It wouldn't go in at first so I pushed a little harder and suddenly it popped in about an inch. Sarah let out an "Ow" and had tears in her eyes."Do you want me to take it back out?'"You do and I won't wait until tonight to cut your balls off. Just hold it there for a while. The pain has almost all gone away."While we waited I asked, "Are you on the pill?" Yeah, mom got me on them to regulate my periods."She signaled her readiness to proceed by giving a flick of her. The black mantle of his hair fanned out with each movement he made, each one so fast, Bruni was seeing a blur. Focusing once more on the Gaul attackers, Bruni dispatched more of the bastards, allowing himself freedom with his sword, he always felt most free, most at peace in battle. It had been his life for so many years. Constantly defending Bergen from attack, constantly bringing his errant brother back, and usually needing to battle his way out of whatever country Nikolai had ended up being.