And perhaps - the successful businessman and his young but assertive third wife speculated hopefully - ‘treating him like an adult’ might improve ...is behaviour.Alas, that didn’t work. The very first evening, in fact barely half an hour after his parents’ car had disappeared towards the airport, Ryan had his gang round and the house was full and loud. Ryan was a popular guy and his gang was a large one that included pretty much all the fun people in his year and a lot of others too. Ryan’s gang. I felt exhausted and confused. Then the mate was slapping my thighs, my buttocks ignored, which made them feel all the more swollen and sore. My thighs were tender and untouched and brought fresh tears to my eyes. I was still being spun, the motion making my head ache. Again the mate returned to my buttocks, drawing cheers from the watching men, though I could see none of them. In some ways my blindness was a blessing, but it other ways it made even a simple spanking much more terrifying. . All this, along with wool blankets, canvas and over a thousand feet of line served to immoderately load my brave craft. However I knew enough not to leave without a serviceable cooking pot, a frying pan, two bows, several bowstrings, two dozen flights and a generous bag of metal arrow heads. I secured my load with rope and canvas then sailed upriver. First the stench of the harbor then the continuous 'clank-clank' of the point buoy faded behind me.I'd heard tales of a small village established. Not like she was actually pushing fifty. She’d stopped dying her hair, and it was white now, and she’d gained weight, but she kept out of the sun and her olive colored skin was almost wrinkle free. It was her eyes that always got me, though. Still bright blue and beautiful. It was her eyes that had my attention when she reached up to caress my face, smiling serenely. ‘You look so like your father. So handsome. My lovely boy.’ She moved closer. I opened my arms to accept her and and embraced me.