Chapter 44
The barn at the edge of the village hadn't changed in Maria's lifetime, and likely not in her mother's or grandmother's. A low white stone foundation supported rough-hewn dark boards, with the highest only a foot above her head. The thick, light brown, thatched roof soared to a peak easily twice that height, the sides sharply angled to prevent snow buildup.
Maria was perfectly willing to break one of the small windows on either side of the elaborately carved wooden door. Sanda and Leo were too occupied, and still too far away, to hear such a quick noise. Instead Maria squeezed through the loose edge of the door as easily as she had when she was a teenager.
The light from those tiny windows glinted off of an orderly row of tools hanging on the far wall. Maria spotted the same
