The sound of her own name startled her. Buteven as she drew in a sharp breath, he turned andsaw her.
And stopped short. The mist was almost gonenow and she could see his face. His expression wasone of wonder and relief and joy.
"Maggie," he whispered.
Maggie stood rooted to the spot. She didn't knowhim. She was positive she had never seen him before. But he was staring at herasif... asif shewere the most important thing in the universe tohim, and he'd been searching for her for years untilhe'd almost given up hope. She was too astonished to moveashe suddenly erupted from stillness. In three long steps he was in front of her, his handsclosing on her shoulders.
Gently. Not possessively. Butasif he had theabsolute right to do this, andasif he needed toconvince himself she was real.
"It worked. I got through," he said.
He was the most striking person she'd ever seen.Dark hair, a little rough and tousled, with a tendency to wave. Smooth fair skin, elegant bones. A mouth that lookedasif it normally might be proud and willful, but right now was simply vulnerable.
And fearless, brilliant yellow eyes.
It was those eyes that held her, arresting andstartling in an already distinctive face. No, she hadnever seen him before. She would have remembered.
He was a whole head taller than she was, andlithe and nicely muscled. But Maggie didn't have a feeling of being overpowered. There was so muchtender anxiety in his face, and something nearpleading in those fierce, blacklashed golden eyes.
"Listen, I know you don't understand, and I'msorry. But it was so hard getting through-andthere isn't much time."
Dazed and bewildered, Maggie latched onto thelast sentence almost mechanically. "What do you mean-getting through?"
"Never mind. Maggie, you have to leave; do youunderstand that? As soonas you wake up, you getout of here."
"Leave where?"Maggie was more confused than ever, not for lack of information, but because she was suddenly threatened by too much of it. Sheneeded to remember-where had she gone tosleep? Something had happened, something involv ing Miles. She'd been worried about him....
"My brother," she said with sudden urgency. "I was looking for my brother. I need to find him."Even though she couldn't remember exactly why.
The golden eyes clouded over. "You can't thinkabout him now. I'm sorry."
"You know something a-"
"Maggie, the important thing is for you to getaway safe. And to do that you have to go as soonas you wake up. I'm going to show you the way."
He pointed through the mist, and suddenly Maggie could see a landscape, distant but clear, like afilm being projected on a veil of smoke.
"There's a pass, just below the big overhanging rock. Do you see it?"
Maggie didn't understand why she needed to see it. She didn't recognize the landscape, although it might have been anywhere in the Olympics or theCascade mountain range above the tree line.
"First you find the place where you see threepeaks together, the same height and leaning towardeach other. Do you see? And then you look downuntil you find the overhanging rock. It's shaped like a wave breaking. Do you see?"
His voice was so urgent and imperious that Maggie had to answer. "I see. But-"
"Remember it. Find it. Go and never look back. If you get away all right, the rest doesn't matter."
His face was pale now, the features carved in ice."The whole world can fall into ruin, for all I care."
And then, with the suddenness that characterizedallhis movements, he leaned forward and kissedher.
A nice kiss, on the cheek. She felt his warm, quick breath there, then his lips pressing lightly, and then a sudden quivering in them, asif he wereovercome by some strong emotion. Passion, maybe, or excruciating sadness.
"I love you," he whispered, his breath stirring thehair by her ear. "I did love you. Always remember that."
Maggie was dizzy with confusion. She didn't understand anything, and she should push this stranger away. But she didn't want to. Howeverfrightened she was, it wasn't of him. In fact, shehad an irresistible feeling of peace and security inhis arms. A feeling of belonging.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
But beforehecould answer,everythingchanged again.
The mist came back. Not slowly, but like fog rolling in, quick and silent, muffling everything. Thewarm, solid body against Maggie's suddenlyseemed insubstantial, as if it were made of fogitself.
"Wait a minute-" She could hear her voice rising in panic, but deadened by the pearly cocoonaround her.
And then...lie was gone. Her arms were holding only emptiness. And all she could see was white.
Chapter 5
Maggie woke slowly.
And painfully.
I must be sick, she thought. It was the only explanation for the way she felt. Her bodywas heavy and achy, her head was throbbing, and her sinuseswere completely stuffed up. She was breathing through her mouth, which was so dry and glueythat her tongue stuck to the roof of it.
I was having a dream, she thought. But even asshe grasped at bits of it,, it dissolved. Somethingabout ... fog? And a boy.
It seemed vaguely important for her to remember, but even the importance was hard to keep holdof. Besides, another, more practical considerationwas overriding it. Thirst. She was dying of thirst.
I need a glass of water....
It took a tremendous effort to lift her head and open her eyes. But when she did, her brain cleared fast. She wasn't in her bedroom. She was in asmall, dark, smelly room; a room that was moving jerkily, bouncing her painfully up and down andfrom side to side. There was a rhythmic noise com ing from just outside that she felt she should be able to recognize.
Below her cheek and under her fingers was theroughness of unpainted wood. The ceiling andwalls were made of the same silvery, weatheredboards.