I took it in mine and slowly shook it. Like everything else about her, it was tiny and was easily lost in my hand. I was looking at her when the recep...ionist called me to the phone.Unusually, it took some time before she faded from my mind, and by then I’d arrived at my destination. Cyril was waiting, talking to another rather attractive woman. As I approached and saw the young woman up close I quickly reassessed the ‘rather’ to a ‘very’. She looked anything between twenty-five to thirty-five. We got lucky on the same trip.Michael had decided to point the twins down a traditional Japanese path. He knew he found the right place when we walked in. The instructor was old but radiated mastery of self. Michael talked in his office while my instructor and I waited. The owner was happy to take on the responsibility and made a suggestion regarding my needs.The school he recommended was more modern and had an instructor only a couple of years older than Michael. It was a Tae Kwon Do school. Remember, it’s pretty isolated up here; we’re three days ride from Phoenix and a couple days ride from the mining towns of Jerome and Prescott. ‘‘Where’s the house?’‘At the northern edge of our land; the previous owners had built the house near the only source of water on the land, a small stream that runs out of the mountain behind it and collects in a small pond before running underground. I had Miguel, our foreman, and the rest of the hands build up the sides of the pond so it could collect. My mood picked up a bit as I neared the front door, it's fair to say you have that effect on me, and I fully expected to feel a hell of a lot better as you welcomed me at the door. I half expected you may even jump out from behind a door just to try and scare the shit out of me. Just in case I edged through the front door and braced myself for a surprise. There was no surprise it would seem, not even a greeting at the door. I can’t deny a tinge of disappointment and then felt like an idiot as I.