Valeria loved that scenery. Skiing was much more difficult than it looked, but both Arthur and his boys had behaved like professionals. Or rather, like nannies with a lot of patience, because she was going flat on her face every four yards.

Finally, after four circuits, Valeria had given up.

“Shall we go now?” asked Gilbert in a sympathetic tone.

“You go if you want, I'm going to stay a little longer,” Valeria decided. “I want to see the colors of the sunset here; maybe I'll come up with something nice for those uniforms.”

She said goodbye to Gilbert on the way to the base of the mountain and adjusted her anorak. She wasn't used to so much cold, but the snow she did like. It was strange to see her reflection in the mountain, it gave her so much peace, so much tranquility in the midst of the maelstrom her life had become lately, that she didn't realize how late it was getting.

The cold suddenly became harsher, especially as the wind began to pick up, and Valeria realized, startled,