"Back? To Panamia?"
"Yes. There's nothing for me here. Perhaps back there I can find something. Maybe I can take up where Franz left off. I don't know. There must be others who are not afraid of life."
Silently Sten offered his hand. Karl squeezed it hard and looked into his eyes. "Good luck to you in your valley. I know where it is now, maybe some day I can return. And perhaps Bradley and the others will make it yet. Until another day then ..." he turned abruptly, and started back down the mountain.
Sten and Kathryn, hand in hand, watched him disappear through the trees. When they could no longer see him, they lifted their eyes to the hidden valley. They saw, even from this distance, the lakes that lay scattered through it, and the winding lines of cottonwoods that grew along the rivers, and the plains where the green and grey of the sagebrush blended. Sten breathed deeply of the crisp air and let his breath escape in a low whistle.
"It was worth it, wasn't it? It's ours. And we won't always be alone, Kathryn. Others will come. Man is not dead. It may take a while, but others will come."
The woman slipped her arm around the man's waist and they stood for a time looking out over the valley. Then they started the long descent.