Chapter One

Mollis felt she could go blind with the beauty of the upreaching, snow-laden branches meeting the rays of the sun pouring over the peaks of the mountains, and when she breathed in, she brought it all inside her. By the end of the third day she was the closest thing to ecstatic she'd been in her life, but for the day that Iris came. Iris. How glad she was she'd be seeing her tomorrow.

The last hour or so of the hike, the sky had clouded up and it had begun to drizzle. As the hikers had been warned of this possible eventuality, they all put on their rain slickers. If anything, the rain had warmed the temperature up a little, but it had also made the ground less crisp, and made the day seem to get dark even earlier.

That night, the group was to stay in a lodge. They arrived by four, having walked less lingeringly through the gloom, as though the speed of the city had begun to return to their bodies.

They all seemed a little embarrassed to be so relieved to arrive at the large old stone lodge. There was a main room, where they would meet for what was promised to be the only really gourmet meal of the trip, and tiny private rooms for each of the hikers, each with its own enormous tub-something very much appreciated after a three-day winter hike.

Mollis went to her room, removed all her heavy and damp outer clothing, and lay on her back on the small bed-on top of the woolen blankets, hands under her head on the starched white pillow. Inside, it was different. She didn't feel as far away from home as she had outside. And here she felt alone, something she was unfamiliar with. It was uncomfortable. Tomorrow she had to go

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