As White as Snow Read Online Free PDF

same medley of scents as the day before, but now something sharp was mixed in. Sweat? That too, but on days this hot, sweat flowed more readily and was more dilute. It didn’t smell this strong. No, this was something else.
    Lenka stank of fear.
    She sat down next to Lumikki. Lumikki kept her eyes closed, and for a moment, Lenka said nothing. Lumikki tried to gauge her own feelings. Did she feel like she was sitting next to her sister? Was this person familiar to her on some deeper level? Was it easy and natural to sit silently side by side?
    No.
    Lenka was frightened and tense. Lumikki was nervous. She knew she couldn’t conclude anything based on that, though. This was only the second time they’d met. AndLumikki didn’t actually believe she should be able to feel a genetic link. For all intents and purposes, they were two complete strangers.
    In Lumikki’s life, there had only ever been one person who felt familiar right away, and she was still amazed that had ever happened.
    “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Lenka began.
    Lumikki opened her eyes. For a few long seconds, the sunlight felt too bright.
    “Of course I came,” she said.
    Lumikki tried so hard to keep out of things that weren’t her business. This was, though. As much as anything could be.
    “I should probably tell you about my family now,” Lenka said.
    She hesitated with every word, as if saying them was unpleasant or caused her pain. Burning coals in her mouth. Her gaze darted around even more than the day before. Lumikki thought of a skittish rabbit expecting a fox or hunter to lunge for it at any moment. Or scared it would step in a trap. Lumikki imagined a snare biting into the rabbit’s foot and blood dripping on the white of its pelt. She remembered her dream and shivered.
    “When my mother died, I learned for the first time that I had other relatives in Prague. Mother never talked about them. I don’t understand why. They are good people.”
    Again those words. “Good people.” It sounded somehow strange to Lumikki, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.
    “How did you find them?” Lumikki asked.
    Lenka shook her head and smiled slightly.
    “I didn’t. They found me. They came to me the day after the accident and said they would take care of me. That they would take care of everything. And they did. They handled the arrangements for Mother’s funeral and all the paperwork and official things. They contacted our landlord and the tax authorities and all the other places I never would have known to call. I wouldn’t have survived without them. They saved my life.”
    Lenka’s expression turned more ethereal. Illuminated from within by a strange light that struck Lumikki as otherworldly. It was clear why Lenka would feel as if she’d been saved after an experience like that. She’d been a couple of years younger than Lumikki was now when her mother died. Lumikki wondered how she would have felt if her own parents had died suddenly when she was fifteen. If people appeared and promised to take care of everything. She would probably have ended up worshiping them too. At least for a while.
    “Are they a couple or . . . ?” Lumikki asked. She wasn’t clear how many people Lenka was talking about.
    “No, they’re . . .”
    Lenka’s sentence trailed off, and Lumikki watched as her expression changed from that bright smile to one of alarm. Lenka looked over Lumikki’s shoulder. Lumikki turned to glance behind her and saw a bearded man with dark glasses and white linen clothing. She didn’t have time to get a closer look because Lenka grabbed her firmly by the shoulder, stood up, and roughly dragged Lumikki away.
    “Run!” Lenka hissed in Lumikki’s ear and took off.
    Lumikki didn’t wait around to ask questions. She just ran, following Lenka along the cobblestone street toward theBasilica of St. Peter and St. Paul at the center of the fort. The rounded stones were treacherous underfoot. Lumikki nearly stumbled over and