Taylor's fingers became cold after some time being outside, but she was enjoying it too much to say anything. She enjoyed the fresh air too much and the feeling of freedom as well. Stone also seemed to be enjoying himself as he rolled a medium sized ball and stacked it on top of the bigger one he had made. The view made her think of him being a little boy, just enjoying the snow and not having a care in the world. She hefted her own medium sized one on top of the large one Stone had helped her roll as her arms had given out. Next she rolled a smaller one and stuck it on top. She looked up and saw that he was already decorating it  with rocks from the rock bed that was near the house. Pine cones for buttons, And twigs for arms, the eyes were carved out holes with his fingers, so Taylor did the same thing. She also added some twigs on top for hair.

"Looking good." Stone said as he came to look at it."

"You're isn't too shabby either."

"Why thank you Madame." Stone replied with a wink. She smiled back.

"I wish you had some carrots, then we could put a nose on."

"What about using a pinecone?"

"Well yeah but I already used it for the buttons."

"But those are small pinecones, we could look for bigger ones."

"Sure." She said, shrugging her shoulders. The pair began searching for big pine cones, but after a bit it seemed evident that they were not going to find one. Taylor paused and glanced up at the sky, all blue and going on for miles like the ocean.

"Are you ready to go back?" Stone asked. She looked at him and saw that he had his hands in his pockets and he looked cold. But she wasn't ready, so she decided to test the waters.

"No, not yet."

"Aren't you cold?" He asked scrunching his nose.

"Yeah. But I don't mind if you don't mind." Stone huffed

"I guess not. Do you- do you want to go for a walk?

"Are you sure it will be safe?"

"We can only hope it will be."

"Then yes, I'd love to." Stone looped her arm through his and Taylor loved it. It reminded her of those movies when the couple who is in love with each other but won't actually say they are in love, dance together for the first time. He extends his arm and she takes it and boom! A magical night that ends with a kiss in the moonlight. It was always so romantic and she hoped that someday she would get her magical kiss in the moonlight.

"See over there, those footprints, those are deer." Taylor shook away the romance in her head and followed Stone's finger to the hoofprints walking in a line.

"I've never been up close to a deer before, do you think we will see one?"

"We might, I brought some corn with me just in case."

"Why are you always so prepared?" Taylor asked without meaning to say it out loud. He grunted and went bug eye "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say it out loud."

"Oh it's fnie. I guess my father taught me to always be prepared. One time I was on a mission and I didn't bring extra weapons or anything with me, I almost didn't make it alive. So taking from experience, I bring things along with me that would be beneficial for survival."

'Like what?"

"Well, uh I have two sets of gloves in my pocket, I have two more hats, some hand warmers, and this corn!" He shook the baggy back and forth with a crooked smile on his lips

"Oh! And how are we to eat it? It's raw, that would not be bery good for our tummies."

"We build a fire and roast it, like it would be on the cob."

"Huh, very interesting."

"Alright here we are." Stone spread his arms out and spun in a circle, Taylor looked about and saw a mountain in front of them, clear openness all around, they had left the first and climbed a bit to get to the base and she hadn't even noticed. She gulped as she raised her head to look at the tippy top of it

"Are we climbing that?" She squeaked out

"Yes squeaks, we are."

"B-but we don't have any rope or anything."

"Ack, quit your whining and come here." Stone took her hand and Taylor allowed herself to be led to the mountain. Then there in the side of it, she saw steps of wood, the big part that was sticking out was a railing just made out of a mountain

"How did you do it?"

"This was a tourist spot, it's where the first man was able to climb all the way to the top. So you American's spent billions of dollars to make it more accessible to us to climb."

"Oh, oh my, it's beautiful, scary, but you still get the experience of climbing it."

"Exactly. So, are you ready?"

"Yes, I am." Taylors said with a beaming smile as she began to ascend the stairs. The beauty surrounding her made her forget that she was on the run, made her forget that they could be seen. It was at this moment that Taylor felt one with the world, one with herself. She felt whole and complete and the one person she trusted was right behind her keeping her safe. She didn't know that she could feel this way about someone, but just knowing he was there made her feel happy and warm. Was she falling for him? Two hours later, they reached the top, out of breath, tired and a bit cold. But the view she saw on the other side was magical. Frozen waters and pine trees, the sun was beginning to dip giving everything a lovely glow.

"Was it worth it?" Stone whispered into her ear

"Oh yeah." She said looking up at him, he was looking down at her. The wind whipped around them, but they didn't feel it, only the warmth of each other. Stone brought her to the edge of the mountain where it was flat enough for them to sit. He helped her down and then he too sat, their feet dangled off the edge. Stone placed his arm around Taylor's waist, and she welcomed the comforting feeling.

"It's all so beautiful."

"Yes, it is. I can't recall the last time I came up here."

"So you don't come up here often?"

"No, probably every two to three weeks, sometimes months even."

"Oh. Well if I knew about this place, the cabin and here, I would try to come every weekend."

"Not if you had a person to watch." Taylor glanced up at Stone. His voice sounding angry

"You mean me right? You couldn't come because you had to watch me and report back?"

"Yeah. I'm not angry about having to watch you. Just angry that my father had me do it. You are not harmless, you didn't even know-" He paused and turned away. Taylor touched his chin and moved his head towards her

"Didn't know what?" Stone shook his head as his eyes became teary.

"Doesn't matter, let's go before it gets too dark." Taylor was stumped at his sudden attitude and tears but she rose and followed him back down the mountain. Somehow the beauty of it all had diminished with her own joy. They arrived back at the cabin and hung up their things in the closet, Stone sent her to the shower while he made cocca. She took a fast one and they regrouped in the kitchen, he poured them the cocoa, then he went and took a shower himself. Taylor savored the cocca and wondered what he had meant by saying that she was ""not harmless and that she didn't know-"" What was it that she didn't know? She wanted to ask but he did say that she would find out soon so she would let it go for a while anyways. Asking questions and getting answers right away was in her DNA, she got that from her mother. And now Taylor realized it was more of a curse than a blessing, because all of her questions and wanting answers now, had gotten her nowhere but here. Stuck with a man with a hard past and a thing for not giving answers right away. She hoped that he would cave soon. But little did she know that all her questions would be answered very soon and it isn't what she is hoping for at all.