Stage 4 (13)
Over the years hunters, poachers, and war have killed many of the gorillas of central Africa. But there are still a few hundred living high in the mists of the Virunga Mountains.
'When it came to football, Billy was different. Black hands grab the ball. Black feet kick the ball. Black hopes rise up with the ball to the sickly white sky. No one can stop him now. He forgets about the river, and the people of his blood . . .'
Since her father disappeared, she has received a large pearl through the post on the same day, every year, for six years.
Dartmoor. A wild, wet place in the south-west of England. A place where it is easy to get lost, and to fall into the soft green earth which can pull the strongest man down to his death.
Careful, Connie, please. Your little sister's eyes are looking angry. Look at the sudden lines around her mouth. Connie, a sister is a good thing. Even a younger sister. 'Mercy, who are you going out with?'
'High above them, Lora and Clyde heard a sound their world had not heard for centuries - the thin scream of a starship coming in from outer space, leaving a long white tail like smoke across the clear blue sky.
`I turned on the light, but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold. Scudder was lying on his back.
`I like work. I find it interesting . . . I can sit and look at it for hours.`
With ideas like this, perhaps it is not a good idea to spend a holiday taking a boat trip up the River Thames.
When a handsome young man begins to court Catherine Sloper, she feels she is very lucky. She is a quiet, gentle girl, but neither beautiful nor clever; no one had ever admired her before, or come to the front parlour of her home in Washington Square to whisper soft words of love to her.