Page 45 (1/2)

We walked along peeking into rooms They were furnished identically, laid out identically, wallpapered identically: each had a bed, a night table, and a wardrobe, just like the room I’d recuperated in A pattern of red poppy vines curled across the wallpaper and continued through the carpeting in hypnotic waves,slowly reclaimed by nature In fact, the roouishable had it not been for the save each a unique na: The Alps Room, The Gobi Room, The Amazon Room

Perhaps fifty rooth--hurrying now, certain there was nothing of use to be discovered here--when a blast of air rolled over us that was so cold it prickledmyself "Where’d that come from?"

"Could be someone left aopen?" Eged

We continued down the hall, the air chilling more the farther ent Finally, we turned a corner and came to a section of hall where icicles had forlistened on the carpet The cold see fro flakes of snoaft, one by one, froe," I said, shivering

"Definitely unusual," Ereed, "even byon the snowy carpet, to examine the plaque on the door It read: The Siberia Room

I looked at Emma She looked at me

"It’s probably just a hyperactive air conditioner," she said

"Let’s open it and find out," I said I reached for the knob and tried it, but it wouldn’t turn "It’s locked"

Emma put her hand on the knob and kept it there for several seconds It began to drip water as ice melted from inside it

"Not locked," she said "Frozen"

She twisted the knob and pushed the door, but it opened only an inch; snoas piled up on the other side We put our shoulders to its surface and, on the count of three, shoved The door flung open and a gust of arctic air slapped us Snow flurried everywhere, into our eyes, into the hall behind us

Shielding our faces, we peered inside It was furnished like the other rooht table--but here were indistinct humps of white buried under deep-piled snow

"What is this?" I said, shouting to be heard above the wind’s howl "Another loop?"

"It can’t be!" E into the wind, we stepped inside for a closer look I’d thought that the snow and ice were coh an open , but then the flurry abated and I saw there was noat all, not even a wall at the far end of the roo above us, and probably a carpet was somewhere below our feet, but where a fourth wall should’ve been the rooround, and an endless vista of white snow and black rocks