As of 9:20 a.m she was no less than 32 years old. Brianna sighed, sending a puff of steam out into the frigid air. So why am I out here, in the middle of the Ural Mountains, listening to a tour guide drone on and on about old growth forests in Russia? Because she’d made a promise to a dying man, that’s why. Her eccentric though much beloved Uncle Alexi had always wanted to revisit the land of his birth but had never had the chance. After the death of her parents Uncle Alexi had raised her like a daughter. So for years he’d been too busy caring for her and overseeing his international forestry conservation projects to take the time for himself. As time wore on, Brianna had grown up and helped him in his conservation efforts…but he’d never found the time to get away. He’d asked her to go in his stead. “You must see the mountains and forests, Bri. Promise me you will go when I am gone. They are so beautiful the angels weep with envy. I want you to see them. Perhaps you will weep too, eh?”
