This week with Arlene and Jeff:
..."What distance are you considering for your backpacking?" Glenda asked.
Dessie and Phillip smiled at each other, each waiting for the other to answer. When Phillip didn't, Dessie said, "Probably within two day's hard walking from here," I think. "Does that sound okay with you, Phil?"
"Yeah. Two days away from civilization, though. We don't want to waste time walking the advertised backpacking trail, nor anywhere near any of the villages. Neither do we want something that's practically impossible to do. We're not trying to prove anything, just be by ourselves in beautiful country - maybe with streams and waterfalls, thus our comments about heading toward the mountains."
"Something entirely secluded, though," Dessie added. "We want to be completely on our own."
Glenda and Karl stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Glenda reached for Dessie's map. Karl got up to come around the table and look over her shoulder. "Here," she said after glancing at her husband.
"Yes, there, and the other little lake, too, I think."
"That second one is a bit far for novices, don't you think."
"They aren't novices, just new to the area. They're in good shape, so they can make it," Karl insisted.
Moments later, Karl had marked Phillip's map too, and both Phillip and Dessie were trying to calculate how far from the castle the area Phillip had marked actually was.
"Two hard days' walk," Glenda injected. "At our age, three," she said wistfully.
"Oh, come on. Both of you look to be in great shape, and you're certainly not old."
"Thanks," Glenda said, then hesitated for a few seconds while she and her husband exchanged glances. Something must have been agreed between them because Glenda went on. "Three of our colleagues, one a close friend, died of heart attacks within two years. Two were in their fifties and the other at sixty-one. They literally worked themselves to death."...
Have a goodun;
Roust