I then rang my wife and told her that I had to go upstate to see an important client, so might be a little late home.

After that, I left work early and, with an excitement that I had not known for a long time, headed off in the direction of Wal-Mart to meet my ten year old niece, Nadine.

It was one of those cold, damp, late November afternoons and was just beginning to get dark.

I was far too early and, as I sat waiting, started to wonder if she would really come, or even if I had just dreamed what had happened yesterday.

I needn't have worried.

As the first school kids started to appear, there was a light tap on my window, and I looked up to see a very flushed looking Nadine anxiously peering at me.

She was out of breath and, as she got in the car, said "I've just run all the way from school. I was really worried that you wouldn't bother to come".

"Do you think I would let my favorite niece down" I replied, smiling at her.

By way of reply she flung her arms tightly around my neck, and gave me a very long, satisfying French kiss.

As she broke away, she said, with great urgency in her voice "Let's go. I can't wait much longer. I need it so badly".

With that, she gave me directions that would take us to Bradley Woods, a tangle of woodland that few people ever bothered to visit.

As we drove, she snuggled up to me on the bench seat of the car, and, had she been a cat, would have been purring very loudly.

After driving for what seemed an eternity, but in all probability was less than half an hour, Nadine announced that we were almost there.

She directed me off the main road and onto a dirt track.

From the state of it, it didn't see much traffic at all.

We bumped and jolted along it for several more minutes and eventually arrived at a small clearing.

"This is it" announced Nadine, so I stopped the car and switched off the lights.

By now it was getting quite dark, the only illumination coming from the nearly full moon which was quite low in the sky.

Nadine cuddled up to me even more tightly.

"Isn't this romantic?" she said, her teeth gleaming white in the dim light, as she spoke.

"So how do you know about this place?" I asked. ......(cont)