Chương 51: Prologue to Christmas Noctis

The snow had crusted over, so every staggered step was accompanied by a brittle crunching sound. The hard edge of the snowpack scraped Anna's calf almost up to her knee. She grit her teeth so she wouldn't cry. The boys needed her. Jan had buried his face in her neck and hair. From the way he was shaking, Anna guessed he was weeping. She tried to hoist him higher on her back, but her arms were weak with fatigue. Jacob grabbed her sleeve.

"Our footprints." She shook her head.

"It can't be helped."

"It'll find us." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. She thought, bitterly, that it was going to find them anyway. Aloud, she said, "We have to go somewhere safe." Tears spilled onto Jacob's cheeks.

"Safe? There's nowhere. We have nowhere to go!" His tiny chest rose and fell with his sob.

"Anna, no one will take us in." Anna stopped and looked around. The moonlight was shining off the snow. The forest was crowded with trees and shadows. Blue. Black. White. Everything was sharp: the snow, the smell of the pine, and the wind that snapped through her thin cape. It would get colder before the sun rose. She turned west.

"They might." Jacob's hand tightened on her sleeve.

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"Dominie said not to go there without him. He said to be careful."

"Dominie's dead. We will be too if we don't get inside."

"Will they help us?"

"Maybe. They're powerful. If they want to help us, they can." For a link to the new novel, see the author note below.