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of the trees had already shed their foliage and the few leaves still clinging to the branches looked like they had been gilded in eighteen-karat gold. The barren limbs cast overlapping patterns of shadow and light that played tricks on the eye and made the landscape appear unnaturally gloomy. Cyrus scuffed the ground with the toe of his boot. |
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"What are you looking for?" Kyna asked. |
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"Come on. It isn't that bad. I think it's kinda pretty." |
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Kyna started off at a leisurely pace. They cleared the first grove and turned sharply up toward the rim of the crest. As long as they were in among the trees the wind was tolerablecold, but the forest cut the velocity in half. But each time they came out on the exposed face of the cliff, the wind sliced through their clothing like it was made of cardboard. The path was easymostly dirt and leaves, but they had to take care. Hidden beneath the dry foliage were loose pinecones and stones, lying in wait to catch the casual ankle. |
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A mile from the start, the path dipped down into a deep grove of aspens on the leeward side of the crest. Scattered around the grove like a set of building blocks were half a dozen or so lichen-covered granite blocks. |
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"Take a look," Kyna said. |
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Most of the blocks contained ancient renderings of four-legged animals that could have been either buffalo or horses with scoliosis, stick men on stick horseback shooting arrows, and squiggly lines that Kyna interpreted as meaning cultivated fields. |
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"Not exactly Picasso," Cyrus said. |
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"You try doing that with a sharp rock." |
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"I couldn't do that with a computer and five hundred dollars' worth of CAD software. I'm just saying it looks kind of . . . childish." |
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Kyna shook her head. "Philistine." |
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They sat on a fallen tree to catch their breath and enjoy the welcome respite from the wind. Here in the grove, protected by the mountain, winter was still just a threat and the trees |
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