Mandy reached for his ridiculous cloak, expecting it to be flimsy. But it was thick and rough. Like the handwoven wool blanket her mom placed at the foot of her bed.
She felt his warm breath on her cheek. Last weekend.
And he was here now.
Her body was releasing into its elements—heat, water, muscles, bones. Tears. Mandy was sobbing, and everything was spinning. She felt for his hand. His grasp was solid.
“Come. I want to show you something.”
He led her from the site with its laughter, oak tree, and picnic table. The darkness became bolder, the silence stronger. He helped her through a thicket of shrubs and down a slope. The air became warm, and the topography changed from grasslands to a wildflower meadow with piles of boulders. Before her was a lake, and towering above her was the unmistakable profile of Devil’s Castle, the rocky crag overlooking Alta’s Albion Basin.
She pulled on his hand.
“You’ve brought me to Alta! This is my favorite place in the world!”
Mandy told him about her friend’s Alta cabin and their summertime hikes to Cecret Lake.
“Everyone assumes it is spelled ‘S-e-c-r-e-t,’ but the silver miners who discovered it spelled it ‘C-e-c-r-e-t.’ You can also climb up Devil’s Castle. It is hard if you are scared of heights.” Mandy acted like she had climbed it before, but she hadn’t. She was only sharing what some of her friends' older brothers had said.
She turned to Adam.
“How did you know to bring me here?”
He just smiled and hugged her.
HVWP COMMONPLACE 18
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