The Drakeridge Mountains stretched for about 1,500 kilometers. To cross the range and reach the next province would take around two months of travel.

The group decided to rest by the lake for two days. One of the horse-drawn carriages had a broken wheel that needed to be replaced.

After their meal, Evelyn Ford went to the lake and caught a netful of fish. Her luck was average; she only managed to pull in three silver carp.

The area around the lake was full of cedars and firs. Evelyn decided to cut some down to store in her space, so she called for Ronan Kendrick, and the two of them left the group for a nearby fir forest.

The firs here were even thicker and straighter than the ones on Broken Cloud Mountain. It took two people with their arms outstretched to encircle a single trunk.

A chainsaw was out of the question, so Evelyn Ford took out a large handsaw. As Ronan Kendrick sawed the trees down, she collected them into her space.

Evelyn Ford spotted a few small cedar saplings, so she took out a hoe and dug them up.

There were also some large, red-furred squirrels in the mountains, but they were exceptionally timid.

Evelyn Ford bundled up the branches. After three hours of work, they had gathered enough wood.

"Ronan, let’s go."

Each of them dragged a bundle of branches back to the camp, where the others were gathered around the fire pit, smoking fish.

Smoking the fish with cedar branches would give it a better flavor and help it keep for longer.

Late at night, after everyone had retired to their carriages to sleep, a few small squirrels poked their heads out, curiously watching the horses and sheep in the distance.

Evelyn Ford couldn’t sleep. She lay with her eyes open, staring at the window. ’How many days has it been since we left the courtyard?’ she wondered.

Ronan Kendrick took her hand, pressing close against her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking about how much longer we have to travel before we reach our destination... and before this extreme cold finally ends."

The carriage was very dark, but as Ronan Kendrick gazed at Evelyn Ford, he could clearly make out the fine, downy hairs at the corner of her eye and a tiny red mole there.

"Are you tired?"

"Not tired."

He squeezed her palm. "Liar."

"I’m really not tired. I’m just curious what The Northwest is like now. I have a feeling most of the survivors have probably fled there."

"The extreme cold should be over by the time we get there. If you can’t sleep, how about a game of chess?"

Evelyn Ford had to suppress a laugh. ’Here we are, a man and a woman alone in the dead of night. Most guys would say something romantic, but him? He wants to play chess.’

Evelyn: "..."

"Let’s just sleep."

Ronan Kendrick raised an eyebrow. "Tired already? Open your eyes, let me see."

"What for?"

"To see if you’re really tired or not."

Evelyn huffed and turned away from him.

The next day, sunlight glinted off the snow as the bleating of sheep rose and fell outside. The rest of the group was gradually waking up. Evelyn Ford pushed open her window to look out, but a howling gust of wind blew past, instantly dusting the windowsill with a layer of snow.

"Fucking hell, it’s cold! Damn this weather. The sun is out, and it’s still this miserable," Miles Vaughn grumbled the moment he stepped out of his carriage.

Evelyn Ford shrank back from the cold and quickly shut the window.

Quincy stretched. "Even criminals exiled in ancient times didn’t have it this bad."

But complaining was one thing; the sheep still had to be fed.

The trees here were too tall, with almost no low-lying shrubs for grazing. Their only option was to chop down some trees for foliage, pull back the tarps covering their feed, and let the horses and sheep out to eat.

Evelyn Ford took a thermos of hot water from her space, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She then quickly slathered a thick layer of moisturizing cream on her face before pulling on her thermal hat.

The group was going to fish in the lake again today, and Ronan Kendrick had already gone over to help. Evelyn Ford took some dry firewood from one of the shipping containers and started a fire to boil water.

"Good morning, Miss Ford."

Evelyn raised her hand to give Wendy a high-five. "Morning. Did you wash your face yet?"

Wendy grimaced. "I don’t want to. It’s too cold."

"I don’t want to, either. My face is all chapped," Wyatt Vaughn said, walking over with his arms crossed and shoulders hunched against the cold.

"Did you run out of the moisturizing cream I gave you?" When they had returned from Westeria, Evelyn had given everyone four 500g bottles. It had only been a little over a year; there was no way they could have used it all up.

"No, I haven’t even used up half a bottle. It’s so cold I don’t even want to wash my face, so what’s the point of putting that stuff on?"

Evelyn had noticed during dinner last night that almost everyone’s face was bright red from the cold. Applying the cream only took a few seconds, yet unbelievably, not a single one of them was bothering to do it.

"When the snow melts and the temperature rises, your faces are going to hurt a lot."

"For real?"

"Yes, for real. Your skin is already frostbitten."

"I’ll never be lazy about it again."

Startled, Wyatt Vaughn rushed back to his carriage to put some on his face.

Evelyn Ford shoveled clean snow into a large iron pot, then took out a rack of ribs from a shipping container and set it to stew.

"We got lucky today! Ronan Kendrick’s first cast brought in about fifty kilograms of silver carp. Look, this one’s the biggest. It must be over five kilograms."

Miles Vaughn and Quincy returned, carrying buckets filled with motionless fish. Evelyn Ford went over for a look; today’s catch was indeed a bit bigger than yesterday’s.

"Evelyn, are we making steamed buns today?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "Get out the cornmeal. We’re making steamed cornbread buns."

They still had a few bags of cornmeal, but some of it had gotten damp and needed to be used up first.

The others returned with their buckets of fish as well. They built two fires nearby, piled on cedar branches, and began smoking the cleaned fish.

"It’d be great if we had some pine needles. Smoking with pine and cedar together gives the best flavor."

"Where are we supposed to find pine needles at a time like this?"

Once Evelyn Ford finished proofing the cornmeal dough, Wyatt Vaughn and Wendy started shaping it into buns. They brushed a layer of animal fat on top, which would make the steamed buns especially fragrant and sweet.

They had plenty of meat but were short on grain, so each person only got two cornbread buns, but they could have as much meat as they wanted.

"Stewed ribs, smoked fish, and cornbread buns. That should be enough, right?"

Evelyn went to get some pickled cabbage she had made back at the courtyard.

"I’ll make a pot of pickled cabbage soup, and then we can eat."

The meat was seasoned with nothing but salt and oil, yet it tasted incredibly savory.

After eating with the group, Donovan Irving brought out all of his black bear meat. He had taken down more game along the way, and now their shipping container was almost full.

After lunch, the group finished cleaning and smoking the fish from the morning’s catch.

Evelyn Ford returned to her carriage for a nap. By the time she woke up, Taylor Vance and Zion Lowell were already preparing dinner.

"There are so many animals in these mountains."

"No more hunting. The shipping container can’t hold any more."

"I’ve got my eye on a sable. I want to catch it for a pet, but the little thing is so fast. Catching it alive will be tough."

"You want a pet, too? Our group already has plenty of them."

Miles Vaughn and Quincy were chopping branches not far away. Evelyn Ford glanced at the four little critters in the corner of her carriage, then got up to give them water and food.

Ronan Kendrick came in from outside, bringing a chill with him. Evelyn Ford was mixing powdered milk.

She shivered, and Ronan quickly shut the door.

"Iris is outside."

"A rainbow?" Evelyn replied. "How can there be a rainbow when it hasn’t rained?"

"No, really," he said. "There are two rainbows over the lake."