NARRATIVE of WARD COURIER

October, 2009

SOUTH WALES, WILLIAMSVILLE, and BUFFALO, NY

It was one in the afternoon on the first day of October. I had started another of those classic fall days off with an easy run in the hilly woods above my cottage. The sky was magnificent, and the leaves were just beginning to turn and fly. We'd had a summery September, and that was the first day I could really feel the autumn.

On the way up the winding climb that led to ...