Stephie turns around once she’s down the steps. Auntie Alma is in the doorway with Nellie, a protective arm around her shoulders.

Aunt Märta leads her bicycle out through the gate. Once they’re on the road, she pats the carrier. Stephie climbs up, and Aunt Märta sets her suitcase on her lap. Aunt Märta gets on the seat and starts pedaling.

Stephie’s never ridden a bicycle. Never had a ride on one, either. Her mother would never allow her to bike on the streets of Vienna, with all those cars and trams. Now she has to balance herself with one hand, holding tightly to the carrier, and balance her suitcase with the other. Every time they hit a bump or a stone, Stephie fears the whole assemblage will veer off its equilibrium and she’ll tumble.

The farther out along the island road they get, the fewer and farther between the houses are. They pass through a thicket of trees and bushes. The road twists and turns among bare gray rocks. Pale purple heather blooms in the crevices.

Aunt Märta pedals slowly up a long hill and stops at the crest. In front of them is the endless, leaden-gray ocean. The dark clouds form a ceiling over the water. Gray-brown cliffs and rocks extend along the edge of the ocean. The waves break on the cliffs, tossing showers of white spray. In the distance, just barely visible, there’s the brown silhouette of a sail against the backdrop of sea and sky. After that there’s nothing but the horizon, a thin ribbon of light at the far edge.

The end of the world, Stephie thinks. This must be the end of the world.

The road winds down to an isolated house, pressed up close to a stony cliff, as if seeking protection from the wind. There’s a red boathouse, too, down at the water’s edge. A boat is bobbing in the water, by a dock.

Thunder rumbles softly in the distance. A blinding streak of lightning illuminates the dark sky. Aunt Märta points down at the house and says something. Although Stephie doesn’t understand the words, she realizes that this is where she is going to be living. Way out at the end of the world.