Chapter 173

We made the trip back to the compound with me wrapped like a mummy. The men had used blankets from the bed to wrap me tightly head to toe. The fabric kept me warm and hidden from prying eyes. While we were still in the wild land between the mountains and the compound, my face was left uncovered.

I looked longingly back at the mountains and imagined Hannah looking at me. She was out there somewhere, I knew she was. Tears slipped down my face as I realized how long it would be before I saw her again, if ever.

The transport slowed to a stop and Christof pulled me to face him.

"Why do you make tears?" he asked.

"Hannah," I told him simply, "I will miss her terribly. She is out there and I will never again be as close to her as I am right now."

My voice broke and I sobbed gazing at the mighty, towering peaks that contained us on this land. Beyond them is where my daughter would stay. Beyond them was where she belonged. I was where I would always stay, in