Chapter Twenty-Two
Marie looked at the clock. She had been gazing through the windows of the infirmary at the River Aire, all frozen over, and the barrier of woods at the edge of her field of vision. Stillness reigned everywhere like a giant weight on the landscape. There was something infinitely sad in the view, something mirthless and feral, mourning presences hiding behind white and grey.
Maybe the world was indeed a chimera.
She thought about the previous morning at the compound. She had gone to the horses’ paddock early, hoping to see Denis. He usually went there in the morning after scrounging every possible crust from the men’s meagre rations to feed to the scrawny animals.
She had chosen the route through the forest, staying under the cover of the trees. Had she sensed his mood
