Kerry went back to Berkeley and continued her studies. She aimed for pre-law and environmental studies. Gault went with her, not as her lover anymore, but as a friend–after all, they’d been through so much together.

The investigation of the mill fire continued at a slow pace. The incendiary device was found. A professional job, the lab boys said, and none of the parts could be traced to anything Scott had bought in town. That was good enough for Steadman.

Beck and Johannsen went on to other assignments. There were rumors in town about what had happened at the cabin that morning, but the participants didn’t talk about it much. They didn’t understand–that was enough. It was a mystery and all who’d seen it wanted it to stay that way.

Scott went back to his projects. He considered he’d been given a new life and recorded every moment of it in his mind. He would tell Yula when he saw her. A new urgency directed his existence. Every breath, every move, would be for Yula. When others talked of the coming generations, Scott would see Yula’s face, crisp and clean in the morning. A sadness there, but also a nobility. Mankind wasn’t so bad, after all. The planet had to be saved, not for some vague notion of the children and the children’s children, but for Yula…and yes, for Xavier and even Tenner. They’re the ones.

There was no turning back. The war had to be fought on every front. Values had to be changed. The coin of Nature would have to be revalued and the coin of Money devalued. Rugged individualism would have to be altered in favor of community outlook and common purpose.

Individual comfort would have to be reevaluated as well. There was more, perhaps not an all-knowing, all-loving God, but something.

Scott sighed. He was back to the beginning. It all comes back to the beginning, doesn’t it? Man himself and the nature of the beast.

The names, he told himself. Must learn the names of the trees. Before they’re gone.

THE END.

copyright 2007 Brenda H all rights reserved