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Halli wasn’t kidding about the day’s hiking being hard. The trail went straight up in some places—there were even thick cables along the side of the cliff faces so you could pull yourself along and not fall off.
“Sorry I’m so slow,” I said to Halli.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re doing fine.”
But I wasn’t really doing fine. I could tell I was holding her back. My genetic double and I are not genetic doubles when it comes to physical strength. Clearly Halli could have gone twice as fast if I weren’t there. I really have to start working out.
Plus I didn’t want her to know, but she’d been right about the boots: they were giving me blisters—big, fat, honking ones. I just had to keep hiking, and hope the boots would break in at some point.
The trail we were on wasn’t just steep, it was
