Leaving the mountain
Soon after that, Susan decided that looking after her chicks and feathering her own nest were more important than wasting away her time in the mountain forest. The fever kept coming back too, disturbing her mind.
She went up to say goodbye to the hens. She couldn't speak much with Jack since her voice had changed so.
As she came into the hen-run, she saw Biddy smiling at her with her plump and cheerful little face and heard her say, “Goodbye, Madam.”
The memory stayed in her mind for many months.
As she looked around at her hens and the glossy cock, she saw something stirring in the soil - a juicy caterpillar. She moved to scratch it up. She realised that her toes were constrained by her travelling shoes, and Biddy scratched it up for her instead. Susan ate it with pleasure, thinking, "A last tasty morsel until - when?" and clucked her farewell to Biddy.
She climbed up into the Landrover for the first stage of the journey home to her children, and gave Jack a quick peck goodbye on his cheek. She was surprised to see that he looked at her in a strangely worried way, as if that was not enough for him.
And then she was on the first step of her long journey onwards.
Next chapter onwards to...
