Chapter 13

The chapter starts with Anand and Nisha resting and trying to ease their hunger by sucking on some icicles. Rajah goes off to forage or so Anand thinks. But Rajah actually brings back a nut that when cracked is edible. Anand and Nisha follow Rajah back to a cache of nuts and they eat hungrily. They decide to take the left path in the road near the cache but Rjah seems to want them to go to the right. Since Rajah has not failed them yet Anand and Nisha follow him. Nisha says that she wants to get to the second obstacle and soon after when they try to walk through a pass boulders dislodge themselves and almost crush them. They try several times to run through the pass but are thwarted each time by the boulders seemingly dislodging themselves from the cliffs above. Suddenly they notice that Rajah is missing. But Nisha spots him again trying to scrape the snow off of some nearby boulders. Anand and Nisha help and soon they uncover a boulder that has a hand print on it. Nisha puts her hand on it and Anand sees a line appear that leads them through the pass. But when she takes her hand off the line fades away. Anand then comes up with the idea of him going first and marking where Nisha should step using snow but he runs out about three fourths of the way and she is forced to make a run for it where she breaks her leg.

The first thing that came to my mind when i read about the kids making it through the pass was "This doesn't make any sense!" I thought that because shouldn't the pass have been blocked off after the 1st or second try? And did Rajah ever make it across? Because even though the plan was that Rajah and Anand would go at the same time it doesn't mention Rajah after that.