It confused them, the gnarled branch lying across rows of newly planted wheat. The tree had been healthy and the weather clear. A bob of bushy fur worked its way along the length of the fallen wood as a squirrel investigated the carnage.

Years from now, when the children had scaled the sheer rock face near their home, they'd think back to this day.

"And now where shall we climb?" the boy asked.

"There," the girl replied, a mountain peak under her finge