She had put off her return as long as possible, but when twilight covered the pine forest with its frigid blanket, she knew it would be foolish to delay any longer. It would be very easy to lose her way when darkness obscured the landmarks she had become familiar with in her walks with Challon. All she needed was to have Rand forced to call out a search party to find her. He would find it most inconvenient if he had to interrupt his rendezvous with that luscious blond amazon, she thought gloomily. Sheena pushed that distasteful thought away hurriedly as she had all similar ones on her lone tramp through the woods. It seemed that she had walked endlessly, setting a brisk pace in the hope that the activity would help to keep her from thinking. She had purposely avoided the fallen pine tree at the head of the lake, for she knew it would bring back far too many memories. They had made a habit of stopping to rest there after that first day. Rand would scoop her up and settle her in his lap and they would talk lazily and contentedly until Sheena was recovered enough to resume their walk.
