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before,” I tell Luki as he jumps into the sleigh.
    He swivels his head to gaze at me, his expressive eyes opening wide.
    “But perhaps you’ll do.” I lay my gloved fingers on his head and take up the reins with my other hand.
    We reach the village as the sun’s sailing high in the sky, a pale golden disk swaddled in wisps of cloud. I survey the town from my vantage point above, locating Kai at the mill before I command the ponies to set the sleigh upon the ground. Whipping snow about me, I step from the sleigh. As Luki leaps out, I tell him to stay at my side. It’s strange for a wild creature to obey me without any touch of magic, but I recall my father speaking of wolves while I huddled by the fire as a little girl. “They follow their pack leader, whatever the situation,” Father told me. “It’s loyalty without question.”
    I suppose Luki views me as his leader now. Wherever he runs, across whatever wild vistas, he always returns to me.
    Work at the mill continues in winter, even though the wheel can’t turn the grindstone. I watch Kai load sacks of previously ground grain upon a farmer’s cart. He’s strong, this boy, and sings tunelessly as he works. He’s wearing his felted wool coat and dark leather gloves. His knitted cap glows like a drift of snow against his dark hair.
    Kai glances at the sky as he strolls away from the cart. So he senses it, the storm that’s to come. Luki trembles under my fingers. He remembers Kai, of course. He recalls the boy’s scent and the touch of his hands.
    I wait until the farmer’s reindeer team pulls the laden cart away from the mill. Kai is alone. He locks the door to the mill and glances about before striding down the rutted path that leads to the village.
    This is my opportunity. I follow Kai at a distance, Luki padding soundlessly at my side. I’ve no fear of discovery. If Kai looks in my direction he’ll see a swirl of white, as if the wind has taught the snow to dance.
    Halfway to the village I call upon my powers and conjure a sudden blizzard. It sweeps from the mountains like a rushing tide, wind and snow whipped into a freezing frenzy.
    Kai lengthens his stride, but he can’t outpace my weapon. The wind bends him double and tears his cap from his head. He makes a frantic grab but it’s whisked from his flailing hands. He stops walking and glances about, holding his gloved hand over his eyes to protect them from the stinging snow. He’s trembling now, though not from an irrational fear of the storm. It’s logic that strikes terror in his heart. He knows the price to be paid for a bare head in the killing cold.
    It’s almost time for me to approach him, his cap in my hands. I glide through the blizzard as if skating over a frozen lake. Instead of forcing me to battle its currents the wind lifts each step of my pale leather boots. Luki, trotting at my side, is wrapped in my magic and suffers no damage from snow or gale.
    As I move closer to Kai I spy another figure pushing its way through the blizzard, struggling to meet the boy. I swear to myself when I realize who it is. Of course, his shadow—Gerda.
    She’s clutching a woolen sack that must contain Kai’s lunch. The sack bangs against her thigh as she fights the brutal winds. Her lips move, but the sound is ripped away as soon as it leaves her mouth.
    Kai sees her too. He stumbles forward and they fall into each other’s arms. I clench my fingers inside my gloves as Gerda whips the scarf from her neck and wraps it about Kai’s head.
    Always Gerda intervenes. I cast Kai’s woolen cap to the winds and stalk after them as they make their way down the path, clinging tightly to one another. I could kill them both in an instant, but that’s foolishness. I still have need of Kai.
    They spy the old cattle shed as soon as I do. Heads down, bracing their shoulders against the wind, they make their way to the shed and crawl inside. I follow not far behind, my presence disguised by driving snow. Leaning