"It's time to go, Inman. The others are waiting."
"I'm stealing one last look at her."
"On the contrary - it won't be the last look you give her. "
"Kiba, what place can I lay down my head to rest if not my Ada?" As her name tore from his lips it broke his heart. He was then surprised to find a lump in his left pocket. Reaching into it, he tugged - pulling out the book of Bartram's travels. Sometimes just reading the name of a place near home - Sorell Cove, Fire Scale Ridge - enough to break your heart. How can a name, not even the real name, break your heart?
Inman stared hard and cold at his love, who bent down sobbing on the near-frozen corpse. His corpse. In a flash, the life in a person - even one trained to get his hands dirty with Yankee bloodstains - can be extinguished.
"Paradise will unite you both in time. You have to trust me." The arctic wolf spun around to face the dawning new world - every knoll dotted with flowers. An emotional warmth, cool and fiery, soothed his every inch. With that the ex-soldier let his right foot pull him forward and toward the light as well. If it was instinct that had driven him to find his love, it was now telling him to let go…for now.