The night is terrible. I dream of giant cocks I have to suck while at the same time trying to avoid to be whacked with a huge club by some devilish version of Jason. Once I jerk so hard in my sleep that I knock my head against a rock. The resulting pain is almost rendering me unconscious. I feel sick and get on all fours, crawl a couple of meters and chund my guts out. The wound on my temple is bleeding again, but I can't muster the energy to tend to it. Then I drift off again into some kind of half sleep.
Finally the first sunrays wake me up. My head is still throbbing and in pain. Slowly I climb the highest hill on the mountain, eating a couple of prickly pears and figs for breakfast.
From the mountaintop I can see both the manor and the coastline of France. I look at it for a long time. For the first time since I'm here I think of quitting. I could swim that distance, maybe with some kind of float. But not today, I'm still much too weak. I shrug the thought off. First, I need to get fit again. The other side of the hill, facing away from the manor, is steep. I have to hold onto the vegetation and half climb, half walk through the brush. Finally I arrive at a limestone cliff, about 20 meters high. Looking down I see various holes, or caves. At the bottom is a small pebbly beach. I climb down the cliff, checking two of the caves. There's nothing in them, but both would be perfect to hide for a day or two.
Down at the beach I undress and step into the cold water. My cut wrists burn like hell, but I guess the saltwater will be good for the healing process.
Then I climb to another cave, which can't be seen from above. Once I'm sure I can't be surprised here I lie down to sleep some more. This time there are no dreams and when i wake up it's already afternoon, judging from the sun. And I feel much better. Almost good enough to go take a look at the situation in the manor. But almost is not enough, so I decide to stay here for the night and explore all the caves.