Her tired feet stopped where the earth ended and wood began. Soil and pebbles were scattered over the first few boards. Her gaze lifted to study the entrance, the frame and the roof beyond. Vines had crept from the forest behind her to writhe up and around.

She could see the figure approaching the opposite end. With a sigh she blinked slowly, then stepped onto the bridge. Her fists clenched and she increased her pace to match his eager steps.

They met just past the middle. He was just as she remembered him, and this, at last, made her nervous. Her hands trembled as they reached for each other. His eyes betrayed his love and sympathy for her nervousness.

An ‘I love you’ managed to escape his lips before hers covered them. One fluttering hand slipped behind his neck to pull him down into their kiss.

The knife was terribly sharp, which is why, she supposed, it took him a moment to realized what had happened. Longer than it took his blood to spill hotly over her hand that had thrust it into him.