The trip home took most of the night. They parked in the weedy driveway and Katelina climbed out. The small white house sat dark and alone, its siding striped from old rain. The blizzard hadn't come there and the yard was a tangle of brown weeds and dead leaves. The bare tree branches made her think of skeletal limbs waiting for their flesh to be returned. The scene was as cheerful as a graveyard. She was delighted to see it.

Jorick kept Katelina behind him and made careful ...