Chapter 1

There were papers everywhere, not a single inch of the oak desk was visible through the chaos. Danny sat there totally overwhelmed by it all. He might have been a highly intelligent man but he was utterly hopeless when it came to paperwork. He'd been working solidly every evening for the past two or so weeks trying to sort the disorder out. Unfortunately the piles just seemed to get bigger!

Danny was beginning to regret Alice's secondment to Mara, a month or so ago. They'd agreed it as a favour for Vanessa, who'd lost her vet at short notice, due to a family bereavement. It had only meant to be for two weeks, but there was a lack of vets with game animal experience and Vanessa still hadn't found a replacement. When Alice had started at Mara, Leopard's Den was ticking over nicely. Now he had the wildlife census and the annual vaccination programme to complete in addition to the normal run of the mill stuff and any emergencies. Far too much work for one person to do, he hadn't got time to do the paperwork as well! Alice usually did the Leopard's Den administration, as she was good at it. She was the one who paid the bills on time, made sure stock levels were maintained and filed all the important documents neatly in labelled lever arch files so any document could be found readily. She'd have never let it get this bad.

A familiar head popped round the door.

"Need a hand?" Alice enquired in her soft Glaswegian accent.

"No, love its okay. I've got it under control", Danny lied, too embarrassed to admit he'd let things get out of hand. "It's late. You must have had a hard day at Mara. Why don't you go to bed? I'll be up soon."

Alice sighed as she closed the door. She'd hardly seen or spoken to Danny in the past few weeks. Most mornings he'd already gone (to one of the local farms) before she'd got up and when she got home he'd be secreted in the study, ploughing through documents or inputting census statistics into the computer. Alice wanted to help him, but she knew how pig-headed he was. If she insisted, he would take it as a personal criticism and the last thing she needed was Danny in a strop!

He eventually crawled into bed at about 2.30 a.m. Alice was still awake. She really missed the closeness they had working together. As he slipped under the covers, she snuggled up to him and began to caress his bare chest. In spite of her tiredness, Alice wanted him to make love to her. It had been nearly three weeks since the last time - the longest they had ever gone.

"Goodnight love," he whispered, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

Danny kissed her on the head, like a father kisses his child, rolled over and fell immediately into a deep sleep.

Alice lay there feeling completely dejected, unloved and unwanted. They had been together for less than two years, married for just seven months. What had gone wrong? Why didn't he desire her any more? There was a time, not so long ago, that Danny had been unable to keep his hands off her, in and out of the bedroom. Now it was if as he didn't care.

It was 7.30 a.m. and they all sat round the breakfast table, except Danny who had already left for his first appointment of the day. Du Plessis had been observing Alice for a few days and had noticed that she appeared to be unusually quiet. The sparkle also seemed to have gone from her eyes. He'd also noticed that she and Danny were spending less and less time together. The loving glances, the private jokes, the affectionate gestures, they'd dwindled to virtually nothing. He knew they were both working hard and that they were both tired but that hadn't affected their relationship before. Anders was extremely worried – he would have to have some stern words with his best friend.

Danny was holed up in the study again. The mountain of paper wasn't getting any smaller. He was sat staring at the computer screen typing the latest batch of data on the spreadsheet. He was so absorbed he didn't notice Dup enter the room.

"Everything okay, Trevanion?" he asked.

"Sure," Danny replied, still engrossed in his number-crunching, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"It's just that Alice seemed a little fed-up this morning………." Dup continued, "You haven't fallen out, have you?"

Danny took his eyes of the screen momentarily. He didn't appear to be in the slightest bit worried.

"She's just a little tired, I think, Dup. She's pretty busy up at Mara. She'll be fine."

Anders looked at his friend, concern was written all over his face.

"Be careful, Danny," he warned, "Be careful!"