We watch a couple of huge, hairy bison standing near the fence eating hay, then continue along the winding path until we stand in front of two vast grizzly bears pacing back and forth in their enclosure, passing each other without acknowledgment. They are silent on their dinner-plate sized paws, sniffing the air now and then with pointed, damp-looking snouts. They are magnificent creatures and I pity them for being here when they should be in a forest somewhere, wild and free.

The fog begins to thin; a ray of sunshine penetrates, dousing the swirling cloud in soft amber. Perhaps Walter is right. Here we are alone; I should make the most of this opportunity to enjoy his company.

I smile into his eyes and the tension I’ve been feeling lifts, floating away with the mist.

‘You know,’ he says, the bears padding back and forth in front of us, ‘when you smile, you are the most beautiful creature in all the world.’

I poke him in the ribs. ‘Don’t tease.’

‘I’m not teasing. It’s the truth. I’ve thought it often enough, but I haven’t dared to say. I figure, if I don’t tell you this stuff now—’

‘Shh,’ I put my finger to his lips. ‘Don’t say you might never… Just, don’t say that.’

‘Okay. I won’t. But, if I want to tell you how much you mean to me, and how beautiful you are, you can’t stop me.’

I feel my face flush under the intensity of his gaze.

‘And you can feel free to tell me anytime,’ he continues, ‘just what a dashing chap I am; how you love my dazzling company, or how good my jokes are.’ I giggle and we begin to walk on. ‘In fact, it’s time for a little joke, now, I think,’ he says. He pauses a moment, then says, ‘Göring has attached an arrow to the row of medals on his tunic. It reads, Continued on the back…’

‘You really do tell the most appalling jokes!’

He’s smiling. ‘It’s just what we do. It’s sort of how we get by, I suppose.’

Walter looks around then pulls me behind the trunk of a large tree so we are hidden from view of the path. He slips his arms around my waist and we are kissing again, our bodies melting together, his hardness growing against me. It’s both wondrous and terrifying, this power I have.

But, if I were to give myself to him, would the magic, the mystery, the wanting, all be over? After so long apart, I want him to want me above everything and everyone. When the kiss is over, we stand for a long time, foreheads pressed together, breath mingling in the cold air.

‘Do you ever think of doing “it”?’ I whisper.

‘You are joking, aren’t you? Do I ever not think of it?’ He pulls me closer. ‘Would you want to?’

The air is still and quiet. Water drips from sodden leaves.

‘I don’t know…’ But I do know. I desperately want it.