This went on for five or six minutes, but eventually she stopped. She didn’t think the battery would go dead as long as the car was running, but she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to use up all the gas, either. They still had to get off this mountainside!
She turned off the headlights and the car and went back up to the porch. “Steve!” she yelled, as loudly as she could. “Kristi! Dan! Skeeter!” She had shouted from the porch like that every now and then all day long. There was no answer this time, either. She went back into the house and stood by the window a few minutes later until, at last, she went back to the kitchen to make the muffins and pray.
* * *
Kristi tried to lift her leg high enough to break through the drift but she lost her balance and fell again in the snow. She just lay there. The more exhausted they became, the more often they fell, and the more often they fell, the harder it was to pick themselves up again. It felt good to just lie there. Like a big, cold beanbag chair, she thought lazily. I’m too tired to go on. I’m just going to stay here and take a nap!
The next thing she knew, hands were lifting her out of the snow bank and setting her on her feet again. “Here, Kristi—let me carry your skis,” Skeeter said kindly while her father brushed her off. She shook her head no, but he took them anyway, and trudged on ahead.
“You okay, Kristi?” her dad asked, looking at her with concern.
She nodded, fighting back the tears. “Are we there yet?” she whispered. Then she gave a sad little giggle. “Oops that’s my question for Mom.” A tear slid down her cheek, leaving a frosty little trail. She straightened her shoulders and tried to stand a little taller. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m okay—just tired.”
“I know. I’m the one who owes you an apology, Kristi,” her father said. “I’m sorry. I never should have taken you all out of that little cabin and back out into the storm.”
Kristi patted her dad’s arm. “Don’t start second-guessing yourself now, Daddy. We all wanted to go. We’ll get home. God knows where we are and will lead us. And if it’s not tonight, then we’ll build a little igloo like Dan and Pete were talking about and spend the night in it and get home in the morning.” She tried to speak cheerfully, but inside her heart sunk at the thought of it. Her feet were frozen, she was really, really hungry and she was so tired she could cry. She just wanted to get home to her warm bed, a bowl of chili and her mom!
The other teens were twenty or thirty feet ahead of them now. Pete and Dan were breaking the trail to give Steve a break. Every now and then they would reach back and help Anna and Robyn, giving them a hand to steady them as they tried to follow in their footsteps or pulling them to their feet when they fell. Skeeter was just behind them.
Anna suddenly stopped short and said something to Pete and Dan. They stopped, too, and stood perfectly still. Kristi noticed and called up to them, “What? Why did you stop?”
They didn’t answer at first, but then Dan yelled back, “Anna thought she heard something!” Steve and Kristi looked at one another and then hurried forward to join the others. “What? What did you hear?” Kristi asked.
“Shh!” Dan said. “Listen!”
They didn’t hear a thing. No one made a peep, no one moved, but stood there with their heads cocked and hats in their hands in order to hear better. A minute or two went by and nothing. Finally Steve said, “Anna, are you sure—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. This time they all heard it. “There it is!” Anna exclaimed excitedly. “It’s louder this time!”
“Someone’s honking a horn!” Skeeter exclaimed. “Maybe we’re close to the highway!”
Steve shook his head. “It’s not the highway. Listen—it keeps going on and on. If it was someone on the road, they’d honk a couple times; maybe someone else would honk back and that would be it. It’s got to be—”
“Mom!” Kristi and Skeeter shouted together. “Come on!”
All traces of exhaustion were forgotten as they eagerly pressed forward. There was only one problem. They weren’t sure which direction the honking was coming from. They moved a few feet forward and stopped to listen again. “I think it’s that way,” Dan said, pointing.
“No, it’s that way!” Kristi said. She pointed more toward the left.
“I think Dan is right, Kristi,” her father said. “Hurry! Let’s go a little further and maybe we can tell better.”
For the next five minutes they went forward like that—stopping every minute or so to try to determine which way to go. It gave them new strength and hope to know that help was so near—until all of sudden the honking stopped.
The silence was deafening. “What happened?” Kristi cried. “She stopped?” Her heart sunk.
“It’s okay,” her dad said. “We’re moving in the general direction and it can’t be that far away. Let’s just keep going.”
They pushed on, eager to just be finished and finally at their destination, but there was something about the silence and the dark, cold woods that threatened to overwhelm their spirits once again. To know that the log house was so near, and yet they couldn’t find it, was almost crushing. Please, Lord, please! Kristi’s heart pleaded as she stumbled along behind her dad.
Skeeter suddenly yelled, “What’s that? Look!” They looked up. Through the trees they caught a glimpse of a light shining softly in the darkness. “Yahoo!” he yelled. The others cheered right along with him!
They rushed toward the light—rushed as quickly as they were able, that is. The snow still held them back and their feet were so numb it was hard to run, but it wasn’t long until they broke through the trees and there it was—the beautiful log cabin, all ablaze with lights in every window to welcome them home.
__________
CHAPTER FIVE
__________
Company’s Coming!
“Mo-om! We’re ho-ome!” Skeeter yelled as they burst through the door.
Rachel looked up from the oven where she was taking out a pan of muffins. She dropped the pan and with a cry of joy ran to meet them. “You’re home! You’re home!” she kept saying as tears poured down her cheeks and she hugged each and every one of them.
Kristi, Anna and Robyn were all crying, too. “Aww, you girls!” Skeeter said in disgust. He couldn’t hide it, though—he was all choked up, as well. He tried to cover it up. “I’m starved!” he blustered. “You got that chili heated up, Mom? And mmm…is that corn muffins I smell?”
“Just give me a few minutes to warm up the chili again. Here—take one of these warm muffins to hold you until the chili is ready. There’s plenty to go with our meal, later, too.” Rachel said as she passed the corn muffins around. “Quick now! Everyone hop in a nice hot shower and get warmed up while I’m heating the chili. Well, not all at once, of course!” she laughed. “You have to take turns!” They all laughed at her zany sense of humor and wiped away their tears.
“No more than five minutes apiece in the shower!” Steve warned. “We don’t want to run out of hot water, before I get my shower, now do we?” He wiggled his eyebrows at them. “And check your toes and fingers for frostbite, while you’re at it!”
A half hour later everyone was back downstairs in pajamas and robes and nice warm slippers, eagerly anticipating chili and corn muffins. A fire was burning cheerfully in the fireplace. They were all finally beginning to thaw out and it was a joyful group who sat down at the table to eat. “Thank you, Father, for getting us home safely,” Steve prayed before they dug in. “It was a miracle, and we know it was by Your hand. Thank you for keeping Rachel safe, as well. And thank You now for this food. We’re certainly going to enjoy it! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
There wasn’t much conversation going on when they first began to eat. Skeeter wasn’t the only one who was “starving!” At last, when they were scraping the bottom of the chili pot and the muffins were all gone, Rachel said, “Alright, everyone! I want to hear all about it! I sat here praying all afternoon and suffering—at the least I deserve to
hear the whole story!”
Steve did most of the talking although Kristi and Skeeter interrupted several times to throw in their own impressions. It wasn’t until they got to the part about finding the prisoner’s T-shirt that Rachel spoke up. “Oo, that makes me nervous, Steve. Do you think this guy is still around?”
“I don’t know, Rachel,” he said, shaking his head, “but as soon as we can get the car out of here, I’m going to go somewhere where I can get a signal and call the authorities. They need to check it out. I don’t think we need to worry, though. That cabin had to be at least a couple miles from here. It was just a fluke that we found it.”
“A fluke?” Skeeter said. “Nah! God led us to it!”
Steve laughed. “I stand corrected! You’re absolutely right, Skeeter. He gave us a shelter in the storm—and is possibly opening the door to catching a dangerous criminal.”
“Hey, Dad,” Dan said, “How are we going to get the SUV out of here? That’s a pretty long drive down to the road.”
“Shovel, boys, shovel! I saw a couple snow shovels out back. We don’t have to clear the whole driveway—just tracks wide enough for the tires. The SUV rides high, so I think we’ll clear the snow okay, but if we get stuck we’ll just dig it out as we go along. Once we reach the highway, we should be okay. I’m sure they send snowplows to keep that clear.”
“Wow, Dad. That’s a lot of shoveling!”
“I know, Dan, but we can do it! We’ll work in teams of two, since there are only two shovels, and when one team gets tired the next team takes over. We’ll start in the morning if it’s stopped snowing by then. Right now we’re all exhausted. It’s only eight o’clock, but let’s head to bed as soon as we help Mom clean up. We’ve had a long, hard day, and tomorrow is going to be the same, so we all need to get some sleep.”
“Not to mention the girls need their beauty sleep,” Skeeter said with a straight face. “I mean they really, really need their beauty sleep!”
“Hey!” the girls all exclaimed indignantly. They pelted him with their wadded-up napkins.
Skeeter jumped up and started clearing the table. “Great meal, Mom! Thanks! Come on, girls! I’ll help you wash the dishes. Mom, you go sit down in front of the fire with Dad. We’ll do this, won’t we guys?”
Rachel stared at her youngest son. Then she laughed. “Who are you, and what have you done with Skeeter?”
* * *
The sun was shining brightly when they woke up the next morning. Except for the thick layer of snow covering everything, they would have never known that the day before had brought a terrible storm upon them.
They ate breakfast quickly, eager to get started with the shoveling. They were young and their young bodies had bounced back quickly from the workout they had had the day before.
Steve wasn’t feeling quite so spry, but he set aside his aches and pains and jumped into the task at hand anyway. “Dan, you and Kristi are a team. Pete, you and Anna are team two, and Skeeter and Robin, you work together, okay? Mom and I will be team four. Each team will shovel for twenty minutes and then come in and let the next team take over. That way—twenty minutes of shoveling and sixty minutes off—no one will get overtired and we’ll be able to keep up the pace. Does that sound okay to everyone?” They were enthusiastic about it. They’d get the job done, but still have time for fun!
It was a great plan, but it didn’t quite work out that way…
Dan and Kristi had barely begun when they were back inside again. “Dad, I think you’d better come out and take a look at this,” Dan called. “I think there was an avalanche down below!”
“An avalanche!” Steve pulled on his boots and jacket and hurried outside.
Sure enough. From the porch they could look out and see a small portion of the highway. Several cars were stopped, their way blocked by a wide slide of snow and trees and boulders. One of the vehicles, an old pickup truck, was half-buried, its hood and front wheels disappearing into the wall of snow and debris.
“Wow,” Steve said. The others had crowded out the door behind him and were staring at the mess on the highway, as well. He sighed. “We’re going to have to go down there and see if they need help. Who knows how long they’ve been sitting there. They can’t see the house from down there so they don’t realize that help is nearby.”
“Why don’t they just turn around and go back the other way?” Skeeter asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe the other way is blocked, too. Well, Dan and Pete, would you like to try out some snowshoes today? Dave said there are several pairs in the hall closet we can use. That would be our best bet in getting down there now and then climbing back up again. There’s no point in digging out the SUV at this point if we can’t go anywhere, anyway.”
Skeeter looked on enviously as they strapped on the snowshoes. There were only three pairs, so he had to stay back at the cabin. He was curious as to how they worked, though. “Is it hard to walk in snowshoes?” he asked his dad.
“Nope. If you can walk, then you can learn to walk in snowshoes in about thirty seconds! They help you walk on top of the snow, rather than sinking down into it, and you can go just about anywhere in them, where you are more limited with skis. I’ll tell you what, Skeeter—when we get back you can try them out for yourself, okay?”
“Sure!”
Rachel came up to him just then. “Here’s the first aid kit and your cell phone, honey. Maybe you’ll be able to get a signal down there on the highway.”
He shook his head. “I kind of doubt it, but I’ll try.” He put them in his backpack, along with several bottles of water and reached for the door. “Ready, boys?”
Steve was right. Walking on snowshoes was easy. The snow was deep, but they had no problem moving across the top of it. The wide surface of the snowshoes kept their feet from sinking through. The way down to the road was long and winding, but not hard. The thought went through all their minds—the climb back up wouldn’t be quite so easy!
They finally reached the highway. Two cars and a truck sat on the road, blocked by the avalanche. They headed for the pickup truck first. It was half buried and they could see the windshield was broken. Was there someone hurt inside?
A figure sat slumped behind the steering wheel. Steve knocked on the driver’s window and the man stirred. Steve tried the door. It was unlocked so he opened it. “Are you okay?” he asked.
The man opened his eyes and nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess so. Just got a mighty big headache.” He had a knot on his head the size of a golf ball and a gash across his forehead. His eye was black and swollen, too, and they could see that he had had a bloody nose, as well, although the blood was dry now. “My foot is stuck. I can’t get out.”
Steve bent over and worked at his foot. It was wedged tightly between the gas pedal and the brake. The man winced as Steve worked at it, but eventually it came free. He slowly slid out of the driver’s seat and stood, putting his weight on his foot carefully. He shook his head. “It hurts, but I don’t think it’s broken. I can walk on it.” He took a few steps to prove it.
Pete and Dan had moved on to the next car once they saw that the man was okay. A woman was inside the minivan, huddled with two little children. The kids were asleep. “We’re okay,” she whispered. “Just cold. We’ve been stuck here for hours. I tried to turn around and go the other way, but there was another avalanche about a mile back. Not as big as this one, but there was no getting around it, so I came back. The kids finally fell asleep just a little while ago. Where did you come from?”
“Up there,” Dan said, pointing. “We’re staying in a cabin for the weekend. You’re welcome to come back with us until they open the road if you want to.” He straightened up to call his father.
Steve and the man from the pickup truck were at the other car. It was an expensive model, large and shiny in the bright sun. They had the door open and were leaning over, talking to the old man inside. “Yes, I’m fine,” he was saying. “Just trying to stay warm! My heater qui
t working. I didn’t really come prepared for this kind of weather!” He had on a suit and tie, although he had loosened his tie. “I’m late for an appointment now because of this!” He had papers spread all over his lap and a computer open beside him.
“Well, I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere very soon, sir,” Steve said. “You have a cell phone, don’t you? Have you tried to call anyone for help?”
The man shook his head. “I’ve tried over and over, but I can’t get a signal.”
“Let me try mine,” Steve said. He pulled his cell phone out of the backpack and flipped it open. “Nope. No service available,” he read off the little screen.
Dan came running over to him just then. “Dad, it’s a woman and two little kids in the other car. They’re okay, but I told the mom they could come back up to the cabin with us.”
Steve nodded. “You’re both welcome to go back with us, too,” he offered to the men. “It’s a little bit of a hike, but at least there’s warmth, food and a place to rest at the end.”
“And a bathroom?” the old man asked hopefully.
“Four!” Steve laughed.
“Sounds like more than just a little cabin,” the other man said.
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Some friends lent it to us for the weekend. Well, if we’re going to go, we’d better get moving.” Steve helped the old man out of the car. The man reached back for his brief case and computer, and would have gathered up the rest of his things if Steve hadn’t stopped him. “Better take just what you absolutely have to have, sir. Like I said—it’s going to be a tough walk up to the cabin in all this snow. You won’t be able to carry much. There’s no internet connection up there, so you might want to just lock your computer in your trunk and leave it here.
Mystery on Majestic Mountain (Kristi Cameron Book 9) Page 4