Others weren’t so open to the idea of cutting leather or shovelling snow. Kobo was like that, as was Tonko, and Sygor. I had to take them aside and ...xplain to them the facts of life, which included that everyone worked in my cave! If I could carve wood to make bows and saddles, then they could shovel snow or tote in a pot of snow for the women when it was needed.The big problem was gender related. I won’t say that the Hilltop People were more liberal minded than the Horse People or the Plains. I’ve been having a difficult time lately. Tommy – well- he – I mean-”“What has he done to you Nancy? If he has hurt you then I’ll beat the hell out of that kid! I had a lot of respect for him but it sounds like he’s just like all of the boys! Only wants to get his prick into a girls -”“Stop, Dad! Tommy and I are still friend’s and he’s better than most guys I know! It’s just – he’s such a nice guy and I like him – alot!”“That’s what I’m talking about dear! I – you see your mother was a virgin. All this is a consequence brought on by our own hand. [if you believe in that sort of thing] And we’ll never get away. We’ll never get to take the easy way. He told himself it didn’t matter. They would be alright. That they’d find a better place in this twilight. But the longing that he felt, staring down into the face of the one reason he’d stayed alive made it just too much to comprehend. Too monumental to wrap his mind around. He numbly stroked at the boy’s sunken cheek with a finger, [so. I had seen enough movies to know what this was. I knew also because my heart stopped. I watched in joyous rapture as his hands revealed the black box. I heard his words but didn’t latch onto them, he told me how beautiful I was and how he loved me so much. My eyes blinked and I finally was pulled out of reverie as he asked, “Katy, my love, will you marry me?” My brain was four steps ahead of my heart and nodded followed by my heart quickly snapping out it. I whispered, but to me it seemed I.