Sneak Peak from the book:

Winter is always tough on Dad, but when spring comes, he’ll sort himself out. They will be back in their home for a summer by the brook.
   Sanya approaches the black iron gate, and wraps her fingers around its cool metal. The great gates barely move when she shakes them, but she cannot see a key hole. She runs her fingers over the elaborate metal work near the center, and an intricate floral design shifts. She turns the floral design to reveal a keyhole. 
    “There is no way in. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
    Sanya jumps back as though she has been burned. Her heel catches on a clump of frozen snow, and sends her sprawling onto the snowy grass.
     A woman leans forward on a bench, her brows drawn together.
     “Are you alright?”
     “I’m fine,” Sanya says, rising to her feet and brushing the snow from her coat and jeans.
     “I am sorry, I had not meant to surprise you.” 
     Sanya looks up and meets the woman’s eyes. Her face shows her concern, but her eyes sparkle with mischief. Sanya takes a step toward the lady. The bench the lady sits on is surrounded by an arbor of leafless vines. The woman has bright blue eyes and the reddest hair Sanya has ever seen, a stark contrast to her own ivory black hair. She sits with a hand resting protectively over a swollen abdomen, visible beneath her winter coat.
     “You’re pregnant!” Sanya says. She slaps her hand over her mouth. She is old enough to know better.
     The woman laughs. Her laugh is too hearty to be described as bell like, but not at all coarse. It sounds like the most real laugh Sanya has heard.
     “Yes, I am.” Her eyes shine while her hand continues to cradle her treasured cargo.
     “Is it your first?” Sanya asks.
     “Yes,” she replies. “I have been told to expect a great deal of difficulty.”
     “My mom always said the challenge was what makes it interesting. Some people climb mountains, others have babies. The only difference is the glory that comes with the first one.”
     The woman laughs again. “Your mother sounds like a smart lady.”
     “She was,” Sanya says, looking to the ground. She waits for the usual pity and platitudes.
     “Tell me about her,” the woman says softly. She moves over on the bench and pats the seat beside her.
     Sanya takes a seat, her heart swelling inside her.
     “She knew every bird call there is. Whatever she was doing, if she heard a bird call, she would stop and say, ‘that’s a blue jay mating call,’ or ‘that one is a robin.’ We barely even noticed, but she never missed one. She said she had a musician’s heart, but never had the opportunity to learn an instrument.” Sanya turns to face the woman. “But she would sing. Not very well, and she didn’t know many songs. She would make them up. She was always goofing around. Dancing and singing. Trying to make my Dad and us laugh.”
     The woman smiles brightly. Sanya realizes she has not shared memories of her mother with anyone other than Katerina and Matthew. “What will you name your baby? Do you know if you are having a boy or a girl?”
     “A boy. We’ll name him Marc.”
     “I wanted to name my sister Bella Layna,” Sanya says.
     “That’s unique.”
     “Yeah, mom said I couldn’t.”
     The woman laughs. “And what’s your name?”
     “I’m Sanya.”
     “I am Jasmine.”
     Sanya smiles and nods at the woman, not sure of what to say next. Jasmine saves her the trouble.
     “Do you come here often?”
     “I come to the park, usually to climb trees. Do you?”
     “Ever since I was a little girl. I spent hours trying to find a way to the other side of that very gate.” Jasmine gestures towards the gate.
     “I saw a kestrel yesterday, with a key around its ankle. I think it might be the key for the gate.” Sanya lowers her voice to a whisper, then draws back, feeling like a fanciful child.
     Jasmine leans closer to her and whispers conspiratorially, “Then you have met Carmine.”
     Sanya gasps. “You know him?”
     Jasmine sits back and speaks at a normal volume. “He is the keeper of this gate, and has been for as long as I’ve known.”
     “Have you ever tried the key?” Sanya asks, breathless.
     “I have never been able to catch him. He is a slippery fellow.” Jasmine scowls for the first time. “They say a dragon lives on the other side. Which is perhaps the reason I never tried very hard to catch Carmine.”
     “A dragon?” Sanya says, her face the picture of skepticism.
     Jasmine nods, her mouth in a serious line. Sanya does not miss the mischief that continues to dance in her eyes. “Have you ever heard the old stories? His name is Nytari. He is the gaurdian of fate.”
     Sanya sits in silence.
     “Are you alright, Sanya?” Jasmine asks softly.
     “My Mom had a picture of Nytari in one of her books. She never talked about the picture, but I knew it was in there.” Sanya takes in a deep breath. “My dad says it’s all an old myth, and you make your own fate. But my mom thought no one could possibly figure out the universe well enough to be total master of your own life. She said the old stories had more truth than we know.”
     “Parents often disagree.”
     “I know. I know they loved one another. They were always poking fun like that. But I don’t know…I don’t know which I believe.” Sanya looks at Jasmine. “Do you believe in fate?”
     Jasmine tilts her head. “I don’t know Sanya. It is a beautiful idea, some master of the universe who puts a million pieces into place just for you.”
     “I don’t know that it’s such a beautiful idea if he lets bad things happen.”
     The twinkle in Jasmine’s eye disappears. Her face turns sober. Sanya shifts her gaze to the gate.
     They sit together. The sound of the breeze through the barren tree limbs is all that is heard. Every now and again the sound grows more intense as the wind blows stronger. The movement of the invisible force is unpredictable. There is a fierce and soothing rhythm to it.