About this story
The flowers are only a little above me, but I hear the part of your warning that concerns getting home whole. You step into this one-chapter preview with Richard Dale at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. You started forward with the search agreed, its destination secret, and its discoveries wholly unknown. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
How it opens
You had spread yourself against a steep rock to reach wild rhododendrons when Richard Dale ordered you to stop.
SaxeThe flowers are only a little above me, but I hear the part of your warning that concerns getting home whole.
Dale reminded you that he had promised your parents a sound return, not a packing case containing an injured boy.
This journey ends within a week if bravado makes every small climb an unnecessary rescue.
Melchior StaffelnMountain air gives a young traveller energy; instruction must teach him where that energy belongs.
Come down and learn what kind of expedition Dale has actually planned.