Mountains appear long before the compound does.
For the last hour, I've watched them rise higher and higher through the windshield, dark green forests climbing impossible slopes beneath a sky so blue it looks fake.
Raulf and I haven't spoken much since leaving the house. Strangely, the silence never becomes awkward. Every now and then, I catch him glancing over, checking I'm still there, and every time I look back he gives a small nod.
The road eventually narrows, twisting upward through dense pine forest where sunlight filters through branches in shifting ribbons of gold. We round a bend and the trees open. The sight that greets me steals every coherent thought from my head.
Nestled against the side of the mountain is what can only be described as an entire village. Large log cabi
