“She saddled him in silence. The riding harness was worn leather, supple from years of use, fitted with brass buckles that she had learned to fasten in the dark when she was twelve—her first solo night flight, the memory so vivid that she could still feel the cold air on her face and the exhilaration in her chest, the sensation of being above the world and free of it, which was also the sensation of being yourself for the first time.”