Chapter Twenty
Beth sat on the dusty ground of the stable, head in hands, beside the crushed remains of the paper wasp nest. Anger and sorrow gripped her so tightly she found it hard to draw breath. Mark’s ignorant act of destruction was a vile finale to a day she’d begun with such high hopes.
She struggled to find a way to deal with what he’d done. The power of her grief over the m******e of the harmless little insects surprised even her. Their death, so unjustified and unfair. Their queen’s extraordinary industry and devotion, all gone to waste, while the true culprits still flourished in the fallen tree, their illegitimate claim to dominance only strengthened by Mark’s misguided violence. The irony overwhelmed her and she began to cry, softly at first. Soon she wailed like a child, te
