"I hope you're used to the hard cold ground, because that's where you're sleeping. There is only one bed. Or you can go outside." "Never mind, I've got a tough back. But allow me this; this cave's pretty well concealed." The last was true. The cave was situated so that it was invisible and nearly impregnable. A dense growth foliage covered the entrance while the passage-way into the main chamber twisted and turned so that light and smoke were diffused perfectly. "Where ... how did you find it?" Dianne sat down on a makeshift bed and began to braid her hair. She raised her eyes and said: "When I was a little girl, my family came up here on Sundays to visit my uncle. I used to play around in the hills while they were so engrossed in their deep adult conversation. One day I just found it. I didn't tell anybody about it, and used it for a secret hideaway ... when the war came, I remembered it. Once in a while I go to my uncle's house just over the rise for things I need, but most of the time I've been here." She finished braiding her hair and leaned back on the bed. "I lived in the open," Clark said moodily. "With the grass for a mattress and the sky for cover." He glanced around, "I think I'll like it here, better." Dianne raised an eyebrow. "Keep the gleam out of your eyes or else you'll be roughing it again," she said jokingly. He laughed and sat down beside her. "Where did you get the candles?" Clark motioned to several wax lumps scattered about. "Uncle liked them, so...." "Yeah," she yawned. "Tired?" he asked. "Very." There was a silence. "Ever read the Bible?" "Some." "I remember a verse that I read a long time ago ... it sort of stuck in my mind." "Tell it to me, Clark, please." "Sure." Clark licked his lips and recited his favorite verse into the murky stillness of the room: "To everything there is a season; and a time to every purpose under the heavens; "A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; "A time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace...." "Hmmm," she said lazily, "Where did you get that from?" "Ecclesiastes." "Nice." There was a long silence. "Dianne?" There was no answer. He stood over the bed and saw that she slept. He stood there a long time, just watching her, drinking in her beauty. She was something he couldn't tear his eyes from. He scratched his youthful stubble, and was aware that the candles were low, casting a ruddy glow, deepening the shadows on her face, creasing her ankles and thighs, accenting everything that needed to be accented, and perfectly. Her breasts rose and fell to the even tempo of her breathing. He walked over and blew out the candles, thoughtfully. Clark stretched out full length on the rough floor of the cave using his hands for pillows, staring straight into the blackness of the ceiling. The ground felt good against his back. He grinned. Something ran through his mind over and over again.