Summary

Chapter 43 – Nadia opens up to Kache about her past, about the move to Altai, the disappointment with Niko, and Vladimir's arrival. Vladimir continued to sexually assault her at knife point, cutting her frequently where it would not be visible to others. The “B” he carved into her was to symbolize the first initial of his name in Russian. He threatened to burn down the village if she told anyone about the abuse. Two years passed before she found the courage to run, leaving her clothing and jewelry strewn along the shore of the bay so it would appear she had drowned. After six nights of wandering through the woods, she came upon the cabin, “abandoned as my own life, waiting for me to step inside” (204).

Chapter 44 – Shocked and angered by this story, Kache asks Nadia if her family thinks that she is dead...