Caroline and Angie struggled to their knees, waiting for the answer. The woman stood staring at them, her expressionless face giving nothing away. Raising a hand, she waved the men forward toward them.

"What's..." Caroline began but stopped in surprise when they helped Angie and herself to their feet, "oh ... thank you."

"Your surprise is understood," the woman said, "please join us in the car ..." she looked around, "this is not the place to talk ... even the trees have ears."

"Will we be able to talk in the car?" Angie asked.

"Of course, you can talk in the car," the woman smiled, "there is no rule saying you cannot."

Slowly they moved toward the vehicle, and the men helped them in; their gentle touch was surprising, and tears ran down Angie's cheeks as she settled on the seat face backwards. The woman settled in on the seat opposite them, facing forward. Caroline felt she was in an old-styled carriage with wooden wheels drawn by horses; looking over her shoulder, she reassured herself it was a motorised vehicle, but her immediate concern was Angie, who couldn't stop the tears from flowing. She had never seen this woman begin crying, even through all the pain she had endured over the years.

"Angie, are you okay?" Caroline whispered.

Silently Angie nodded and swiped at her wet cheeks. The woman handed Angie an open box of tissues, who gratefully took them.

"Where are we going?" Caroline asked.

"Somewhere safe," the woman said, "then we can chat openly about everything you're itching to ask."

"How did you know we were there?" Caroline asked.

"The tunnel you used has been there naturally for decades ... possibly centuries," the woman said, "and it opens onto our lands."

"Lands, what lands?" Caroline asked, looking out the window.

"Lands that extend further than you can see them," the woman said, "something akin to what you and Josaih have."

Caroline's gaze snapped to the woman, "What do you know of Josiah and myself?"

"My family has known Josiah since he was born," the woman said, "we were thrilled when he married you. The two of you have done many wonderful things, helped many people, and we're so proud of you."

Caroline stared at the woman, unsure of how to proceed or what to say. Nodding, she looked out the window again, her thoughts in turmoil and her heart longing to be home again. It felt like she was moving from one point on the map to another, never truly feeling safe or that she could rest. Worried thoughts moved to Chelsea and Bevis, wondering if they had escaped the room or if they were stuck, unable to escape from The Calderone.

"You worry about something," the woman said, smiling when Caroline turned her gaze on her, "I cannot read your mind, but your face is very expressive."

Nodding, Caroline sighed, "The two women we left behind saved us from ...." swallowing hard and glancing nervously at Angie, who shuddered, "... well ... they stayed behind so we could get away without detection."

"Brave women," the woman said, "but all of this will be over soon ... we work on getting the evidence we require."

"What evidence?" Caroline asked.

"All will be revealed ... soon," the woman said cryptically.

Shaking her head, Caroline turned to take in the view of the moving landscape, and she couldn't help wondering if Josiah had learnt to be cryptic from whomever this person was; they seemed to form their sentences the same way, and their intonation was also similar. Caroline frowned, wincing at the pain in her face. Who was this woman?

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The car stopped moving; the warmth of the sun had disappeared. Caroline rolled her head on the headrest taking in the vehicle's interior; it was chilly. Angie was still asleep and didn't seem to be waking. Slowly Caroline extended her grimy blood-streaked fingers toward Angie and pressed against the pulse point on her neck. The heavy thud against her fingertips drew a sigh of relief from Caroline's dry, chapped lips. It appeared they were alone, left in the backseat of ... where were they? Looking out the window, Caroline took in the smooth cement floors and jagged rock face rising above them, whispering an exclamation as it disappeared into the gloom, leaving Caroline feeling as though she had discovered a strange place of wonder and weirdness.

Pushing the door open, she became aware of men in black suits with earpieces waiting near the vehicle. Starting with surprise when they saw her head and body appear from the car.

"Ah, you're awake," one of the men said; his voice was mellow and held a heavy accent that Caroline couldn't place. Nodding at his words, she stepped onto the smooth surface of the cement, looking around at the space.

"Where are we?" she asked, flexing her bare feet on the icy surface.

"This is the basement of our ..." he waved his hands before continuing, "... safe house."

"Safehouse," Caroline murmured, "if this is the basement, how big is the house?"

He smiled and waved the man with him around to Angie's side.

"She isn't awake yet," Caroline said, nervously watching the other man open the door and bend inside.

"We didn't expect her to wake yet," he said, "please, follow us."

He turned and started walking with the man carrying Angie. Caroline hurried to catch up and keep pace, something challenging to do when your legs hardly worked and every step you took shot pain up your spine and slammed a more severe agony through your head. Gritting her teeth, Caroline kept up with the striding men as they moved to the back of the extensive space and climbed the stairs to the next level and the heavy wooden door in the middle of the rock wall. Following them through a maze of passageways, Caroline felt winded and finally realised she wouldn't get lost as long as she kept them in view. Eventually, they came to a large open-plan room with high ceilings and beautiful views from floor-to-ceiling windows. The furnishings were understated in creams and light blues, while the rock face of the basement seemed to extend up here as well—the welcome heat of the immense fireplace flushed over her cold skin. Caroline would have loved to take it all in, but the room began spinning as her laboured breathing became more of a pant than a hiss. Desperation raced through her as she saw the men stride through the room and stop before the woman who had brought them to this place, sitting casually on a wide couch. Clutching her ribs, Caroline moved forward. She heard words exchanged as she barely clung to consciousness, blinking hard to clear her vision and stumbling toward them, but she found herself unable to move as pain and exhaustion wracked every limb and nerve in her body. Slowly the determined darkness closed in as she felt her body crumple to the hard floor.

Hearing a dull thump, the woman stood, staring at the prone body on the floor before turning to the men, glaring at them angrily.

"Did you not think of carrying her as well," she said, clenching her teeth in anger, "no ... instead, you stride ahead in arrogance, ignoring where she may be or if she may need assistance. You disgust me."

Moving to the large coffee table and ringing a brass bell before turning to them again and silently staring at them. A heavily muscled man dressed all in white appeared with two women following him. One of the women spied Caroline on the floor and ran toward her, dropping to her knees and pressing her fingers to her pulse.

"I see that Audrey has already found our guest in need," the woman said, "please can you take Caroline and Angie to the blue suite," she raised her hand to keep the man from moving toward Angie, still in the other man's arms, "you take Caroline, Petrov can carry Angie."

The man nodded, moved toward Caroline, gently rolling her into his arms, and disappeared through the archway he had just appeared from. The woman waved at the man holding Angie, and he followed the procession leaving in Caroline's wake.

"I expected more from you, Paulo," the woman said, turning to the waiting man, "I've never known you to show anyone disrespect as you did Caroline, leaving her to struggle alone. Why?"

Paulo's face flushed scarlet, "I have no excuse," he said, "she seemed to be moving well on her own, and the one time I did check on her, she seemed to be doing well ..." he shook his head, "Petrov and I got into a discussion and ..." he swallowed, "... I didn't check on her again. I'm sorry; it won't happen again."

Staring at him silently, she watched him squirm before nodding, "Make sure it doesn't ... you're dismissed."

She watched him leave through the same archway before moving toward the window and taking in the breathtaking view of snow-capped mountains descending to wide flowing rivers below. Living so remotely had its costs, but when looking out the window brought you all this beauty and peace, it was worth every sacrifice given.