I opened the door to the living room and breathed in the noise with relief. It was dim. The incense was thick in the hot air and made me feel sick. I pushed through a mass of bodies dancing or clumped together talking. I bumped up against Rennel, who was leaning his head out the window and breathing. I tried to speak to him, but it was impossible. He motioned toward the door. Then I spied Moira Clancy in Carlotta’s leather tunic. She followed us out through the crowd.

We had to go down the drive a little way to keep from being stepped on. Clancy leaned against Rennel.

“Where are Sam and Carlotta?”

Rennel smirked. I smirked back.

“They’re not here. They haven’t got back from New York yet.”

“I thought this must be their wedding party.” Clancy swayed her hips to the music and gazed adoringly up at Rennel. The hem of the tunic dragged on the gravel. The rest rolled and creased over her flesh. The seams were spreading and opening in little puffs down the sides.

Rennel watched the moving figures on the lawn. “I don’t know exactly what it is. Sam called me from the airport the day they left. He said Laura had decided to come with them and would I come here every night and feed the animals. I came out to stay because I’d finished work and have two months off.”

Clancy gave me an anxious smile. I ignored her.

“But what’s all this?”

“I don’t know. They all started coming in yesterday saying Laura invited them weeks ago. They brought their own drugs and food. It’s like an Italian movie, isn’t it?”

“Or a dormitory beer brawl.”

“But don’t you think it’s good for people to release their inhibitions and seek a lifestyle in harmony with the rhythms of their existence?” Clancy said, with her most winsome accent.

I smirked gleefully at Rennel.

He glowered and shivered theatrically. “Oh, shut up.”

Clancy winced and jerked her hand away from his back. Her lips parted and her glasses started to mist over. She hobbled away, pulled awkwardly at the skirt of the tunic to keep from tripping. Rennel stood, making his most ferocious face. I waved distractedly, shook my head. My own nastiness made me sick; it was time to go home.

It’s nice shitting in the woods