It howled again. Sharab pulled off her hood and turned her right ear toward the boulder. She also removed her glove, tucked it in her left pocket, and drew the handgun from her right pocket.

"Who are you?" the figure shouted.

Sharab backed away.

"Who wants to know?" she shouted back. The woman was surprised at the effort it took to yell.

It actually caused her heart to race. Her voice sounded flat in the close, cold air.

"We are with the man who joined you before," the other man said.

"Where is he?"

"Which man?" Sharab asked.

"There were two." The man was speaking in English with an American-sounding accent.

That was encouraging.

"We only know about one of them," the speaker said.

"What was his name?"

The man hesitated. Obviously, someone was going to have to make the first move to prove who they were. It was not going to be Sharab.

"Friday," the man said.

Sharab stepped forward again very tentatively.

"He is not with us!"

"What happened to him?"

"He left," she replied.

"Let's talk face-to-face."

"Come closer with your hands raised," the American said.

The speaker did not step from behind the boulder. It was the woman's turn to trust him.

Sharab protected her eyes again and tried to look past the boulder. She saw a second, smaller boulder off to the right but no sign of any other men. There could not be that many soldiers behind the two rocks. But the two boulders would provide good cover for a crossfire.

Sharab told Hassan and Ali to stay where they were. They nodded. Both men had drawn their weapons and were huddled close to the rock. Ali had moved out slightly to provide her some backup.

"If anything happens to me, fight your way out of this," she added.

"You must keep the Indian army occupied."

The men nodded again.

The speaker was a few hundred yards away. Sharab did not put her gun away. She raised her hands shoulder-high and began moving toward the nearest boulder. It was difficult to see because of the blowing ice and she had to turn her face toward the side. Her scarf had fallen away and was whipping behind her. The ice particles lashed her flesh.

Her cheek felt as if it were on fire. Sharab finally had to lower her left arm to protect it. There was no mountainside to lean against so her sore feet were taking all of her weight. She shambled from side to side to keep from putting all of her weight straight down. At least the terrain was level. That made it easier on her leg muscles.

Her eyes tearing from wind and pain, Sharab staggered the last few yards to the boulder. She fell against it and her knees just shivered and unlocked. She began to slide down the side.