Madeline stood frozen, words failing her entirely. It wasn’t just shock—it was as if her heart had slipped back to a winter long past, to the fragile shell of her ten-year-old self.

She’d been chasing a squirrel into the woods that day. One moment the little creature was just ahead, and then, in a blink, it had vanished. Turning back, she realized the snow had covered every trace of her path. The entire world stretched out in a merciless, white haze, all sound smothered, ...