CHAPTER 2It was two in the afternoon before Jarin and Alina arrived back near the waterfall where their adventures, if they could be called that, began. Jarin felt hungry but otherwise okay. However, Alina had rings beneath her eyes and her sore ankle had swollen and become a patchy purple. Also, though she never complained he noticed that her armpit had become chafed by the branch crutch.
She slid off his back after accepting help for the last half-hour and plonked herself down at the same place they had originally dried out.
"So how are you?" she asked when Jarin sat down beside her.
"Fine," he replied. "I'm not a fitness fanatic but often take an evening walk at this time of the year. Helps me gather the thoughts" He was going to say to get away from the wife but decided it was an un
