Chapter 457

• The wind was cold today, but there was no snow yet. The jacket was doing its job, even undone it was keeping her warm. She didn’t care about the weather; she would have been out here. She’s had too many moments of looking out a window wishing she were outside and that there was no weather or temperature that was going to keep her indoors now. The boots on her feet felt heavy and made her steps harder to place, but she would go slow and carefully on her walk today. She wanted to take them off and feel the ground on her bare feet. Would it be warm with the blanket of leaves or cold and wet? Curiosity had her crouching down so she could touch it. It was odd, they were wet and cool to the touch, but beneath them, there was a warmth. She looked up at the naked branches of the trees and realized Nolyn’s words were true. In the summer the leaves gave shelter from the sun, in the winter they protected the earth from the snow.
• Getting up, she started walking again. Konner had told her the two rivers crossed on the land and she decided that was her target for this walk. To find them. she had seen them from his helicopter but had no idea which direction they were in. Maybe once she found them, she could swim there. The fast-moving water had been exciting.
• Distracted by a scent, she tripped over a rock and stumbled, landing on her bottom. She huffed out a breath and looked at the rock. Stretching she put her hand on it and felt the cold of it. She didn’t understand about rocks, but she was going to ask her tablet when she got back. How did they grow in the middle of the forest?