Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

The road dead-ended in a scalloped expanse he thought must be a parking lot. Craning right and then left, he spotted no other roads, no paths. There was, however, a set of stairs zigzagging up the mountainside. Twisting his head to get a better view, he leaned over the steering wheel and squinted toward to the mountain’s summit. Through a thick curtain of blowing snow, he could just make out the hard corner of a building set upon the summit. The distance had to be at least a hundred feet, possibly more.

My God. He sagged back in the driver’s seat. No way he’d manage Davila on those stairs. Can’t have come all this way for nothing. There’s got to be another way up.

“Chawn.” A tentative tap on his right arm, and when he looked that way, Matvey jabbed both zip-tied fists to the right of the steps. “Chawn, khodit ,” the boy said, making walking motions with his fingers like in the old Yellow Pages commercials.

Peering left through the windshield, he spotted what the boy had seen: a slight indentation marking a path. That was good news for them; he didn’t much like the idea of clambering up a set of rickety stairs with or without Davila. The path didn’t seem to be too steep either, which was also good. Keeping their footing in snow and ice would be tough enough as it was. But what about Davila?

“Seriously,” he said to the kid. “Walk up a mountain with Davila on my back.”

“ Khodit, ” the boy said, again. “ Khodit, Chawn.”

Walk, John. “Uh-huh.” He unbuckled his shoulder harness. “From your mouth to God’s ears, kid.”