Of course he had something to do, Face thought, as he gathered firewood and kindling. He had to get to LA and Murdock. He was still going, definitely, but he could tolerate a couple of day's delay while he fixed things here.

And why am I doing that? he asked himself. Am I the white knight, sweeping in to save the day? When had he become such a do-gooder? Hannibal had corrupted him. Or maybe Leslie. He used to be able to keep his mind focused on Templeton Peck's interests. Somewhere that had been all messed up.

"What are you doing?"

Speaking of other people... Face looked up to find a girl watching him. The girl with the long brown hair who'd been giving him the look at dinner last night. She looked at the three fires Face had built in a triangle, in a field near the farmhouse.

"I'm getting us some help," Face said.

"Right." She watched the smoke rising into the sky, then looked back at Face. "So now do you dance around naked and chant incantations?"

Face grinned. "That part is more effective with two."

She giggled and blushed, lowering her gaze, but then looked back up at him, bold and smiling.

"Can I stay and help you tend your fires, Alvin?"

"Sure." As if he'd say no. "What's your name?"

"Bluebell."

Face gave her an odd look. "Right."

"Well, not really. It's Bella. But Bluebell is prettier."

"It is," Face agreed. "Bluebell is very pretty indeed."

That made her blush again and made Face smile. Yes, a pretty companion, even with a silly name, to help him with his signal fires. That sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

~o~

"Gimme the binoculars, BA," Hannibal said. After a second he added, "please."

BA handed them to him and Hannibal focused on the three plumes of smoke rising into the morning sky. They were several miles away and he could only see the trees and hills that stood between them and the smoke.

"Three fires," Hannibal said.

"Distress signal," BA said. "Think it's Face?"

"Maybe," Hannibal said. "Could be some hikers in trouble." He lowered the binoculars.

No. It had to be Face. This wasn't an area with many hiking trails. It's Face and he wants us to know where he is. He wants us to find him. Hannibal smiled, hope surging in him too.

"I guess if it's a distress signal we gotta go there anyway, whether it's Face or not," BA said.

Hannibal nodded in reply. Good point. But it's Face. He knew it in his gut. They set off, Hannibal setting a good pace, eager, even a little desperate, to get to that signal.

By tonight, the team could be whole again.

~o~

Face and Bluebell tended the fires all morning. They added wood to keep them burning, and grass and leaves to produce plenty of smoke. In between they did a lot of talking and laughing and a little snuggling and kissing.

Near to noon, they were lying in the grass, kissing and giggling alternately, when they heard someone coughing nearby. Face sat up to see Clara making her way over to them. By the time she arrived they were both sitting up.

"Still here then, Alvin?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She nodded and played with one of the strings of beads she wore. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Might as well come in to lunch then."

Face hesitated. "I don't want to cause any - um - ill feeling."

"I don't allow arguments at my table. It's bad for the digestion. Come on." She turned back towards the house.

Face had food in his pack, but he could smell fresh bread, the scent of it wafting over on the breeze, and his stomach cast the deciding vote. Get over there and get some proper home-cooked food, it ordered. Face always took his orders like a man.

He made sure the fires were safe to leave for a while, then took Bluebell's hand and followed Clara back to the house. Bluebell had placed a daisy chain around his neck earlier and he almost pulled it off before going inside. But he stopped with his hand touching the small flowers and just left it in place.

As they went in through the kitchen door, Face glanced back at his signal fires. For a moment he hoped Hannibal and BA wouldn't rush to get here.

~o~

Over lunch Face got some dirty looks from various younger members of the commune. Jeffrey even tried to ask him about Vietnam, but a couple of guys a few years older than him forcibly changed the subject, and gave Jeffrey some dirty looks of their own.

They must be the veterans Fred mentioned, Face thought. Clearly not prepared to put up with any idiotic questions from a boy who'd never come any closer to combat than an especially hard-fought tennis game.

Jeffrey subsided and just kept watching Face, perhaps expecting him to draw his gun here at the table and threaten the lentil loaf.

The pistol and rifle sat in Face's pack, at the open back door. Not in the house, but in Face's line of sight. Nothing came near the pack except one of the flock of chickens that pecked around the yard. It gave the pack a couple of experimental pecks and wandered off again.

Face went back to his fires after lunch, stoking them up and adding more leaves and grass to keep the smoke going. Bluebell showed up again after a while, carrying a box. She sat down with it beside her and started stringing beads. She made jewellery, she told him, which she sold at festivals and concerts.

It wasn't the sort of jewellery that would go over big in LA. No diamonds, mostly carved and painted wood, or coloured glass. Nice colours though, Face supposed, looking at the rainbow of bangles she wore on her arms.

The hot sun beat down on Face as he worked, and after a while he came to sit beside Bluebell while he drank water from his canteen.

"Were you really in the war, Alvin?"

"Yes."

"My brother was too."

The breeze dropped for a moment, like a held breath. In the silence the wooden beads made soft clonks as she loaded them onto a cord. Face was scared to ask the questions. Did he come back? Did he come back whole?

"He only did one tour. He's at college now. My parents want him to be a lawyer."

"That's good." Face breathed again, relieved.

She shook her head. "I don't think he wants to be one."

"What did your parents want you to be?"

She laughed. "The wife of a lawyer. I'm not clever enough to be a lawyer myself."

"That's what they told you, huh?"

"Well, I'm not." She shrugged. "Anyway I like it here. It's sort of serene."

Face looked around, at the flower-dotted meadow they sat in and the hills that surrounded them. Birdsong sounded in the warm air accompanied by the soft clicks of the beads, or rattles as Bluebell sorted through the box. In a fenced off pasture, the commune's three cows lowed distantly.

Serene, yes. Something he'd had little of in his time. Was there something to be said for the life these people led? Yes, even Face, the city boy, could see the appeal in a simple life far from the pressures of civilisation.

But the uncivilised bits always caught up with you in the end.

~o~

"Alvin! Alvin! Wake up."

Face stirred and sat up, realising he'd fallen asleep on the grass and the sun was now low in the sky. Damn the fires... were fine. Bluebell must have kept them going while he slept. Now she was shaking his shoulder, a nervous but excited look on her face.

"What is it?"

"Someone's coming."

Then he heard the barking. Billy. Two men walked up the road toward the farm, still almost a half-mile away. They turned off the road and started up the track. Face couldn't see them clearly, but he knew who they were.

Part of him wanted to jump up and down and yell for them. Part wanted to just act cool. 'Oh, about time you got here.' He stood and watched them come closer and closer. Nobody waved. They were being cool too.

"Who are they?" Bluebell asked, sounding awe-struck that Face had conjured up these two men from nowhere.

"My friends."

As they stepped off the track and started to cross the field to Face, a smaller shape broke away from the two men and streaked across the grass. Seconds later Billy launched himself at Face. Not ready for it, Face fell backwards and sprawled on the ground, with Billy standing on his chest, licking his face. Bluebell doubled over with laughter while Face tried to fend the dog off.

"Oh, yeah," Face said, dodging Billy's tongue. "And this one is Billy."