As she headed back, she ran into Brandle. Crap. I forgot he was out here.

"Hello." He waved as she drew close. "It's been quite a day. Or should I say, quite a week."

"The last eight months have been something." She stopped when he offered her a cigarette. She'd wasted the other, after all.

He stared into space. She wondered that Estrilda had affected him so deeply. He didn't know her, did he?

"No," Brandle said to her unspoken thought. "I didn't know she ...