Chapter Nine
Sacred Mountain Range, Peru
With her ruck on her back, Nasira opened the door and stepped across the hard snow. The blizzard was gone and for the first time Nasira could make out the village. Only it seemed very different from what she expected. The buildings were Incan stone walls with new roofs and doors. Some new huts were sprinkled around the outskirts made only of timber and metal sheeting. Their walls were painted more colorfully than the stone.
A trio of kids played near the center of town in colorful ponchos and snowshoes. The bare ground beneath their feet seemed almost visible in the snow, but the more Nasira looked the less obvious it became.
She paused mid-stride and tried to focus. The light from behind the clouds seemed different now. And the darker patches i
