‘My niece, Mariam,’ the older man explained and urged Cadfael to sit with an expansive gesture. ‘She is learning my art.’ Cadfael merely nodd...d and breathed in the intoxicating mixture of scents that pervaded the interior of the apothecary’s booth. Bunches of wild herbs hung up to dry and there were shelves filled with oils and infusions, pots of ointment, vials of powders and liquids of every hue and description. The store never ceased to fascinate the young soldier. He had met Salah by. In the 8 months we had been coming here we had seen all of maybe 3 people. “Our Spot” as we had come to call it was an old, abandoned, overgrown reserve, down by the lake.Our Secret SpotIt was only accessible by foot, down a narrow path at the end of a dirt road. The path weaved between the grass and shrubs which we had to negotiate each time we went to our spot.. At first we just used to sit and talk on the splintered park bench, or lay on the grass patch and sun bake. Or Chris would teach me. The four of us had a good time and dinner went by too quickly. Mr. J rounded us up and herded us back to the busses. Before we started the trip back to the hotel, Mr. J went to all the busses and reminded us that we all had to be downstairs for breakfast by seven. A lot of kids groaned about it, but we all knew we’d be there. He reminded us again about the security guards and the rest of the rules. Like I said, he’s serious about not letting us go too far.Speaking of going too far, Mom and Dad. Long story made short, Nick had indeed dropped by her place of work that Tuesday after the football game. He took her to lunch, offered to help her with her car, then took her by the auto body shop to make an appointment and work out other logistics. Nick found out that she had Thursday off and arranged to pick her up and go out that night, a movie and a late snack at some place near Nick’s apartment. Yes, she had stayed the night, and yes they had gone out that Saturday night as well, to a few.