As we retreat from the room, returning to the others, my heart sinks low in my chest, as though a great weight presses down on it, smothering me. It's so far to go to reach my destination! My memory of the size of the country is refreshed by Socrates's map. I recall flying once, in a large, private airplane, for hours and hours that felt like forever. The trek my new friend has told me I must undertake seems impossibly daunting.

Beckett's hand finds mine, his fingers squeezing ...