Hot, sunny autumn day. Granite rock promontories. Groves of close-together pine trees. Granite rock shelves guarding miniature beaches. Clear water in isolated coves. Progress on the lake shore was slow. But never in Septemberclaver had Clara spent such a memorable day. At lunchtime, she laid her clothes at water's edge and swam in the cool water.

In the evening, when across the water the sun was setting on blue green hills, and the lake was beginning to narrow, she thought she discerned houses in the woods on the Eastern lake shore.

She was not on the originally planned route to Thecity. Her path at the lake's end was unclear. On the map, were the blue lines between the end of the lake and Theity a series of parallel roads?