Hearing of Brian and Holly’s problems, Ernie couldn’t help thinking of his own problems with Rowena.   Originally Ernie had dated Holly back in mid 1982.   But Holly had soon introduced Ernie to her cousin Rowena, whom he had started dating, while Holly had taken up with Ernie’s best friend Brian Horne.   They had double-dated on a regular basis for a few months, then when Bear Ross (so nicknamed because of his great height and huge barrel chest) had been promoted to sergeant and then transferred from BeauLarkin to Glen Hartwell, Bear had started to date Holly’s older sister, Gloria, so they had triple-dated together ever since.   By early 1983 Ernie had been ready to propose to Rowena and had even bought an expensive engagement ring — which now lay at the bottom of a drawer in his dressing cabinet.   Before he could propose, however, disaster had struck: in February 1983 Ernie had started to suffer from crippling aches in his back and stomach.   He had been doubled up by the aches, which at times had been so bad that it felt as though every bone in his body had been broken.   For weeks his local G.P., Dr. Van Reyk, and Gina Foley from the Glen Hartwell and Daley Community Hospital, had examined Ernie without being able to localise what was wrong with him.   Finally one night he had needed to get out of the house and had staggered out into the back yard.   To his surprise the night air had made an immediate improvement in him and he had started running through the forest from pleasure at being temporarily free of the pains that had wracked his body for so long.   He had run for kilometres, only stopping for a drink when he reached the Yannan River.   Then looking down into the water he had been shocked to see not his own reflexion, but that of a large, black wolf gazing up at him.   At first he had looked round hurriedly, expecting to see a wolf standing near him (although wolves are not native to Australia).   But finally he had had to face the awful truth: he was the black wolf!   The reason for the weeks of crippling agony was that his body had been resettling itself, adjusting to the requirements of the werewolf taint, which had somehow developed in Ernie from the time of his twenty-first birthday.   So, not knowing how safe he was to the people around him, having heard all his life tales of werewolves being mindless killers that attack and kill first the ones who are closest to them in their human life, Ernie had put away his plans for marriage.   For the last three years he had been trying to summon up the courage to break completely from Rowena, thinking it would be best for her.   But his love for her was too strong and he had never been quite able to make a clean break with her.   Instead their relationship had waxed and waned, growing hotter then cooler as Ernie longed to propose to Rowena, but was still afraid to.