Long Island lay in eastern New York State and consisted of two districts, Queens and Brooklyn District, both of which fell within New York City. Thanks to its unique geography and prime location, it was known as "New York's Backyard."
Arkham Asylum was also located within Long Island. With its many mansions for the wealthy, wine estates, and fine sandy beaches, it was the top choice for New York's rich to spend their weekends and an excellent summer retreat.
Of course, once winter arrived, the rivers and lakes of all sizes became Heaven for ice-fishing enthusiasts. There were countless varieties of bass and trout here, as well as pike, the fish anglers most loved to show off.
The interwoven scenery of lakes and mountains also prevented the endless ice fields from feeling too desolate. The ink-dark mountains in the distance gave people the delightful sense of stumbling upon a lonely spark of life deep in winter.
Nick's group chose a lakeside cabin by a small lake in western Long Island as their base. Compared with the famous parks packed with visitors, this place was more remote and quieter.
At around three in the afternoon, while the sunlight was still fairly bright, they took electric snowmobiles run by locals to the cabin. By sunset, they had arranged a resting area by the shore, put up windbreaks against the powerful gusts, set out folding chairs, and piled stones into a campfire ring nearby.
Most of that had been done by Natasha and Ivan Vanko. Russians simply knew too well how to carve themselves a usable nest out of a snowy wilderness.
Although the shore itself was not frozen, the heat stored in the wide expanse of pebbles had long melted the morning's light snow into streams that vanished deep underground. All that