The bullwhip cracked the frigid air and its end tore across her back leaving huge welts. The whipping did not stop until the young girl managed to stumble her way into a small log shed. She closed the door behind her. She heard her father wedge something against the door. He shouted, You will stay there until you decided to obey your father!

What had precipitated his violent anger? Her father had always been strict, but never this way. Her mother never made a move to come to her aid.

It was late afternoon and below freezing already. Leisel curled up, whimpering. She felt the blood oozing from the lash across her neck and throat. She lay there alone in the dark listening to the wind howl through the tress. Leisel didn't know that a person could feel so desolate.