LUCAS CLAIMED we were on a hiking trail but that seemed dubious at best. Nature had encroached on almost every inch of the essentially nonexistent path. Branches scraped against my arms and legs as we pushed forward, and I was glad that Meredith and Teresa had made me go shopping. My beloved flip-flops wouldn’t have cut it for a second. The hiking pants and thick fleece jacket were much better suited to Peru. I probably should’ve bought the hiking shoes that Dastien had picked, but they were so ugly I’d gone with the less sturdy pink and purple running shoes. Hopefully that choice wouldn’t earn me a twisted ankle.
The air was getting thinner and cooler. I zipped up my fleece and hooked my thumbs in the little holes at the end of the sleeve so that my hands were nearly covered. It felt lik
