NARRATIVE of WARD COURIER

March, 2008

RUSKIN, NY

Nine o'clock on a Tuesday evening in late March found me ordering again at the bar of The Tom, waiting for a couple of my school friends to show up. My spirits were high. It was the first night of the spring break. I had over three weeks off. I was planning to leave the next morning for a New England jaunt to catch the last of the skiing.

I of course thought of Lys Mall, the very interesting woman I'd met ...