“In an hour, maybe, or two,” he said, “we will be trying our best again each other to kill. God only know why we do it, and I think He has maybe forgotten why […] We have shown them, haven’t we? We have shown them that any problem can be solved between two people if only they can trust each other. That is all it needs, no?”

The little Welshman shook his head in disbelief as he took the rope. “I think if they would let you and me have an hour or two out here together, we could sort out this whole wretched mess. There would be no more weeping widows and crying children in my valley and no more in yours. If worst came to worst, we could decide it all on the flip of a coin, couldn’t we?”