He could die, Tasha thought dismally, kicking a clump of snow into the tall pine trees. She pivoted on her foot, twirling as best she could in her too-big boots on the frozen ground. The eerie calm of the mountain felt so much like their life in that moment. Frozen, waiting, moving slowly forward; almost there, but not quite. Each day melted a little more, but each fresh snow fall heralded another frozen moment in time. A reprieve. A brief minute where she could catch her breath once ...