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While they spoke I was studying the road intently. The carriage was a little beyond the break in the road. The lower road obviously led toward the small village where we were due to arrive that night. The carriage had skidded when the driver abruptly reined the horses up onto the high road, crashing through the foliage.

“It is a dangerous way!” Ovidiu shook his head. “Too dangerous to go that way!”

“Father, where did the boulders come from? Not off this road. ” I stared down at the strange barricade. “It is as if they were set there. ”

Father was irritated with our guide. He was a man who expected to be obeyed without question. “It is dangerous, but it is also the only road open to our destination. We are expecting a carriage to pick us up tomorrow in the village of Rosu. We must be there tonight!”

“Night will come fast now. The sun is low,” Ovidiu said. His anxious dark eyes darted toward the descending sun.

“Yes, yes. Light the lanterns on the carriage. Let us be off. We are wasting time!”

I reached out to Father. I was very bothered by the way the road was blocked. It seemed so deliberate. “The boulders, Father-”

“It is a dangerous way!” Ovidiu looked stricken. “We can turn back now! We can be far away by the time the moon is full!”

“Stuff and nonsense, Ovidiu. Light the lanterns and let us be off!” Father motioned at the driver that we were continuing on this high road.

“Father!”

“What is it, Glynis?”

“The boulders down there-”

“Yes, yes, what of them?” Father glanced down through the trees at the barrier blocking the lower road.

“Where did they come from?”

“We are in the mountains, Glynis. There are rocks of all shapes and sizes about. Now, into the carriage with you. ”

“But, it is so odd, Father!”

“This is an odd country, Glynis. ”

I was ushered up into the carriage and seated reluctantly across from my mother.

“It was as if they were placed there, Father. Do you not think it is odd? Maybe it is a sign. ”

Mother held May close as she tried to soothe my panicked sister. “What is a sign?”

“The road being blocked. Maybe God does not want me to go see the Count. Maybe God has blocked our way as a sign to us,” I answered. I did not truly believe my words, but I dreaded continuing on with our journey.

“This is 1819. I think we are far beyond believing in signs,” Father declared as he took his seat. He swung the door shut and knocked on the side of the carriage with his fist.

The carriage lurched forward, and we began our ascent into the darkening forest.

As the sun continued its journey downwards, dark shadows began to fill the valleys. I sat quietly pondering the strange configuration of large boulders that blocked our passage. May finally stopped whimpering and fell asleep in our mother’s arms. Father seemed lost in the wilderness of his own mind, staring blindly out the window. Silence filled our tiny haven.

The climb was treacherous, but as the sun continued to sink below the craggy mountaintops, the horses raced on more swiftly than before. We were rattled about the carriage with every curve in the road .

I could feel the urgency in the driver’s voice as he prodded the horses to greater momentum. The rumble of thunder could be heard rolling through the mountains as foreboding dark clouds rolled overhead obscuring the starry sky. The sun vanished with one last glimmer through the pine trees, then night took possession of the earth.

As the sky transformed from light to dark, so did our mood. The day had been drenched with refreshing sunlight. The night was darker than any I could recall, the air stifling. I felt as though I could not even take a full breath. The darkness filling the carriage smothered me.

Strangely, my family also seemed to sense the change. We fell into an eerie silence. Mother’s mouth was clamped so tightly shut that her lips were as pale as the moon she so warily regarded.

“What was that?” May whispered.

“The neighing of the horses,” Father said, his voice slicing harshly through the darkness.