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We took off our shoes and sat beneath the diving board, dipping our feet into the water as I told him about the farmhouse in Vermont, about the slip of paper with Cindy Bell’s naht the last piece of the riddle could be there

"Let’s go," he said immediately "Classes don’t start till Monday It’s too late to go now, but could leave to and laughing and planning our trip, our shadows ether as he fell asleep byand falling, and wished that I could fall asleep in the crook of his arle word from his lips could remind me of how beautiful it was to be alive; that a touch froers could inspire me to breathe deeper, to live slower, to be better; that I could fall in love with hi fortwo coffees and a brown paper bag It was a cold, yellow day, the sun partially obscured by clouds as we took a taxi to a boat station in lower Quebec, where we boarded a ferry

The boat traveled slowly across Lake Cha beneath us as we sat by a dingy snack bar near theNoah opened the paper bag and took out two dry brioches "Chocolate or almond?"

I took the chocolate one and smiled "Thanks"

The boat was e around deck, their parkas bloated ind Leaning over, Noah wiped a flake of pastry crust fro

The loudspeaker hummed and then amplified the captain’s voice He spoke with a rural French-Canadian accent "We are now leaving Canadian waters and entering the territory of the United States of Aazing out the

The water was a deep blue and extended as far as I could see, the sky reflecting off of it as if there were no beginning or end to the horizon, and ere suspended somewhere in the middle Just like I was suspended somewhere between life and death, between my world and Dante’s

It was late in the afternoon e disembarked on a desolate dock on the northern tip of Vermont The sky was streaked with red as the sun sank behind thein the parking lot Noah and I approached the closest one The driver was asleep, his head perched on his fist A newspaper was spread open over the dashboard Hesitantly, I knocked on theAfter jolting awake, he rolled down the glass

"Where are you headed?" He was a gaunt rown eyebrows

Unfolding the scrap of paper frorunt, he motioned to the backseat As we clier’s seat and drove off

Unrolling the , he lit a cigarette A cherry air freshener swayed beneath the rearviewin between the seats, when a buht uard, and I jumped, surprised at how outside of me he felt Is that what it would feel like to touch Noah, to kiss Noah, to be with Noah--a shock of the unfa back that sounded like twenty

The landscape was frozen and glassy, the trees coated in a delicate layer of ice as we drove past dimly lit farmhouses and snowy fields protected by wooden fences Just before dusk fell over the treetops, we passed a fan breaker chas at the streetlights, the closed shops, the gas station; each looking exactly as they had in er, I wrote the phrase Fait Acco of the

"Irreversible Action," Noah translated "Why did you write that?"

I stared at the phrase "I don’t know," I said, before wiping it aith my palm

The road was potholed and slippery as we rolled past a crooked tindriveway I turned around and watched it through the rear , re the way it had looked into it "That’s it"

Putting the car in reverse, the driver looked over his shoulder, his face impatient as he backed up over the ice Before he stopped, I opened the door and jumped out to read the side of the mailbox It was printed with the same address as the one in my vision Beyond it was a yellow farmhouse and barn

We paid the driver to wait for us for an hour "Any longer, and I’one," he said, and pulled over to a flat spot beneath a tree, where he turned off his headlights Just as they went out, a thin breeze blew through the trees, wrapping itself aroundto Noah

"Feel what?"

I held a finger to ain, but when I closed my eyes, the air was still "Neverto a patch of land on the side of the farround "There’s a fa"

I let out a breath of relief Setting down es of the mailbox, just as I had done in my vision, so they wouldn’t squeak Quietly, I opened it But toinside