––––––––
Johann tapped the tip of the poker with his fingertip, as though subconsciously testing its sharpness. Then he stood up, made his way over to the fireplace, and stirred the logs until orange embers fluttered throughout the chalet like fireflies. The old physician took the meerschaum pipe out of his mouth.
"Keep that up and you"re liable to burn the whole place down," he warned. "Innkeepers don"t care much for lodgers who burn down their chalets." Johann sighed and returned to his seat next to the doctor, poker still in hand. When he saw that Johann was staring vacantly through the window, past the swirling mist, in the direction of the Lagginhorn, the old man laid his bony paw on the lodger"s knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Why are you so worried, Johann?" he asked. "Di
