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They finally reached the shrubs but did not try to hide—they no longer needed shelter. Dislodging sand and debris with their feet, clutching at prickly branches, Giulia got to the top of the cliff ahead of him and stopped. Ivan was climbing behind her, raising his injured leg sideways. So bad was the pain in his knee that he simply did not know how to climb the steep patch near the very top. Seeing that, the girl knelt down and held out her thin weak hand to him. He looked at the blue streaks of veins on her wrist and moved her hand away—how could she possibly cope with his weight? But Giulia began to jabber in a strange mixture of Italian, German and Russian and urgently grabbed him under the elbow, supporting him as best she could, and he eventually dragged his ponderous bulk over th
