Part 1

A warm summer wind was blowing on the hilltops. The moon, as it quartered up the sky , lost its redness and turned the colour of strong tea. Among the hills the coyotes were singing, and the dogs at the ranch house below joined them with broken-hearted howling. The dark green oaks below and the yellow summer grass showed their colours in the moonlight.

...

    The kitchen was dark, but Jim Knew where every piece of furniture was. He put out his hand and touched the corner of the table, a chair back, the towel hanger, as he went along. He crossed the room so silently that even he could hear only his breath and the whisper of his trouserlegs toghether ,and the beating of his watch in pocket. The bedroom door stood open and spilled a patch of moonlight on the kichen floor. Jim reached the door at last and peered through.

     The moonlight lay on the white bed. Jim saw Jelka ( his wife ) lying on her back, one soft bare arm flung across her forehead and eyes...