HELEN REALIZED that she had walked too far just as day-light was beginning to fade. As she looked around her, she was struck by the desolation of the country. During her long walk, she had met no-one, and had passed no cottage. The high-banked lanes, which blocked her view, were little better than steep mudslides. On either side of her rose the hills- barren sepia mounds, blurred by a fine spit of rain.