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wooden ladder tied with leather strips led to a loft. Seth quickly climbed to the top of the ladder and peeked over the edge of the loft
    “Mom! There’s a bed and a window on the ceiling.” He clambered up to explore.
    “That’s a skylight,” Brett said, returning with another load. “It’s also an escape hatch if you get snowed in.”
    “It couldn’t snow that high!” Rene’s eyes were trying to judge the height of the ceiling.
    “It isn’t too bad here. The cabin was built on high ground and the roof has a steep pitch. It mostly falls off the roof but it can get pretty deep on the ground.”
    “So, what happens when you escape to the roof and all around there’s snow? You can’t exactly pop over to the neighboring cabin to borrow a blowtorch.” She wondered if it was too late to run away to Tahiti instead.
    “No, but you can be air lifted out in an emergency. Mostly, folks stay home. They plan for what they’re going to do when they can’t get out.” Brett had unloaded their bags and was looking around the cabin. “You know, ladies make quilts and bake and we have a fair number of poets and painters and wood carvers.”
    “So, when it snows people do arts and crafts?” Rene struggled to understand the mind-set of the inhabitants.
    “Sort of” He was openly grinning now. “Look, Miz Nichols, people come here because they like the wilderness. Don’t like cities and crowds and smog. They like the snow. We actually look forward to the first snowfall. Hard as this may be to understand, people who live in Alaska aren’t being held prisoner.”
    “I--I understand,” she said, though she didn’t.
    “I hope so, Miz Nichols, because we’ve been without a teacher for the past few months, and I don’t want to disappoint these people.” Brett fixed her with his penetrating glare. “If you’re going to let us down, do it now.”
    “No,” Rene said. “I’m not planning to let you down. I’m just trying to get acquainted with---with things.”
    “I’ll leave you to get settled in, then,” he said. “Tomorrow we’ll sign that contract, if you’re still interested.”
    Rene stood with her mouth open. As she stared after his retreating form, a hundred possible retorts came to mind. She heard him slam the door of the Hummer and start the motor. Walking out onto the porch, she raised her hand in a silent salute. Though he drove away unhearing, she yelled after him, “I’ll still be interested, Mr. Brett LeCroix, because we have no place else to go.”
    Rene and Seth explored the interior of the cabin as Sara napped on the sofa. The fireplace wall was constructed of native stone and rose all the way up to the high peaked roof. It looked as though the ceiling had been used for some sort of storage as heavy iron hooks still hung from the crossbeams. The loft was at the opposite end of the cabin. Kitchen appliances lined up along the back wall and a small bar separated it from the dining area. The sofa where Sara slept faced the fireplace and sat atop a large wool rug, hand-woven in once-bright colors.
    “What do you think, Seth?” Rene asked.
    “It’s--different,” he said, “but it’s cool, Mom. I like the loft.”
    “I hope you and Sara don’t fall out of it.” She looked at the height of the loft. “There’s no railing and it must be at least---” She paused, judging how high it stood over her head. “It’s at least seven or eight feet off this hard wooden floor.”
    “We’ll be okay. I won’t let Sara fall.”
    “And where am I to sleep?”
    “Right here.” Seth darted to the darkened area under the loft, where he pushed aside a pair of hand-woven blankets hanging from curtain rods attached to the low ceiling.
    Rene pushed in behind Seth. There was a bed made of tree branches tied together and covered with a patchwork quilt. A small bureau held a lamp and a well-worn Bible, and a bearskin served as a rug beside the bed. There was a small curtainless window by the bed. The