It goes further back than that, David told me.

“He said we must realize what Alec has gone through since he first found the Black in that horrible shipwreck, which almost cost him his life. Then he had to spend all those months on that remote island until he was rescued. David said Alec’s been through several traumas, and it was a wonder to him, as a medical man, that Alec has been able to cope with his life as he’s done. It most certainly has not been any kind of a normal life for anybody, let alone a young man. Since he’s had the Black, he’s experienced one grim adventure after another.”

“He seemed able to cope with his life to me,” Henry said, “even enjoying it.”

“David said it would appear so to anyone who didn’t know. But there was turmoil within him.”

“I thought his turmoil was his love for Pam,” Henry said.

“No, Pam actually helped him. David told me that Alec’s love for Pam was what he has needed all along. She was light and kind and happy, and she loved him very much.”

“She was all that,” Henry admitted.

“David said the truth of the matter is that Alec’s capacity to love is greater than other people’s, partly because of all he’s been through and his need for a love as deep as his own.”

“He’s always had the Black and us,” Henry said. “He knew he was loved.”

The tall man smiled wanly. “It’s different, Henry. You know that as well as I do, and with Pam he had a love that was very special. Her loss was more tragic to him than we can imagine. It may have triggered what David thinks could be a total collapse.”

“So what does Dr. Warson think we should do?” Henry asked impatiently. “Sit still? Do nothing? Wait for him to come back?”

“Something on that order,” Mr. Ramsay said gravely. “We can make quiet inquiries, but we can’t notify the state police or the press and conduct a manhunt on a national scale. David is afraid that Alec is in deep shock and, perhaps, still deeper depression. If the police were to pursue him, and he became frantic, the results could be tragic.”

“Tragic?” Henry repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Death,” Mr. Ramsay said barely in a whisper. “Alec could be driven to believing that life isn’t worth living without Pam.”

WESTWARD, EVER WESTWARD
6

The second day on the road, Alec set the pattern for the rest of the trip. He slept only after he had walked the Black in some unpopulated area. He would return to the truck, wrap his arms around the steering wheel and doze off, ready to leave again as soon as his eyes opened and he could see the road. He lost weight rapidly and his muscles, hardened by years of riding, started to become slack and weaker. Dark shadows blackened his eyes and the skin of his face was drawn tight by his illness. He looked gaunt and suddenly old, twice his age; his face that of one who was retreating from life.

“Pam is gone,” he said leadenly. His voice was like nothing he’d ever heard before. It didn’t matter. He really didn’t care, and that was the trouble.