I’ll add it to my hopeless list: Baking. Being On Time. Now Skiing. I’m going to sit a Master’s in hopelessness.’Jenny chatted away, happy. He...should have mentioned Zoo while she was like this. She’d have been curious, never jealous. He finished his beer quickly, listening to her. Jenny went for another. It might slow you down this afternoon, she said.Pete watched her weave towards the bar and when she disappeared he looked around for Zoo.He couldn’t see her. But he’d never known where Zoo was.. I had even seen her talking to a nice-looking young man, Paul, she said his name was, who had walked her home one day. In addition to working on my novel, I was running the college's literary journal along with Liz's father and teaching the odd English class here and there. I was only half a year away from forty, and I didn't dread a day of it.Until that Thursday.As I said, she had been out late; later than usual for a weeknight, but I wasn't overly concerned. I knew Alexis vaguely from a party. ‘Captain Gombe, what happened to my wife and child?’ Gombe stiffened. He knew it was inevitable, he knew that no one else could do it. Damned if made it easier… ‘The Bel-Zon raided Salem Four for the trilithium resin being stored there. There were casualties. Lt. Hannah Hrelle was one of them. I’m… sorry, Captain.’ Gombe had never seen a reaction like that on another person’s face. He hoped never to see one like that again. No matter what his fellow Captain had done, no one should have to. That night I helped Danny get everything ready. He checked his bow, got a couple of extra strings, made sure his quiver was full and then filled his backpack with some extra clothes and food. We had several guns in the house but my husband had always used the bow and now his son did the same. The guns were just there as an insurance policy in case they were necessary. Originally we thought they might be needed for safety.When I went upstairs he was already in bed. I was feeling pretty guilty.