24
Patty checked in with Sofia who told them to keep out of sight. The slopes of Mount Shiveluch were crawling with Russian military. Hopefully the Russians would give up by nightfall, but during the daylight it would be too dangerous to travel.
She looked around and didn’t know if she’d ever want to leave.
The ice cave in the bottom of the glacier had been carved by a thermal hot spring. Somewhere up under the ice, volcanic heat and glacier were combining to make a flow of warm, crystal clear water.
The cave was twenty-feet high, wider than her family’s living room, and went back fifty or more paces that they could explore walking upright. The ceiling was a broad arch from one side to the other. The surface rippled like pillows.
The base of the cave was mostly boulders, originally ca
