Page 89 of Snow River

The wind wasboth their enemy and their friend.The way it howled masked the sound of the door crashing open when Bear kicked it down with the help of his snow boots.

Sometimes being a stud was an advantage, he wanted to tell Lila.But they had no time for jokes anymore.

He ducked outside and made sure no one was nearby, that no one had heard the crash of the door splintering.Visibility was terrible, with the wind driving thick snow against his face.The only light came from the main hexagonal structure; that must be where they were all waiting out the storm.

He reached out a hand to help Lila leave the shed.If only their skis were nearby, but a quick glance around told him they weren’t.They’d have to walk in their snow boots.

As they headed in the direction he knew was the river, the wind fought them every step of the way.It blew sharp snow crystals against their cheeks.It whipped at their clothes.It made the air feel thirty degrees colder than it was.

In the old days, people used to rig up ropes from one building to another, from barn to homestead, so if a whiteout blizzard hit, you could still find your way to your livestock.They had no such guide in this chaotic snowy darkness.He was counting on his innate sense of direction, and the light from the compound, which he kept on their right.

Lila tired quickly.It was hard work post-holing through the snow.When they were about halfway to the river, he lifted her onto his back.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, so out of breath it was hard to make out her words.

“Don’t be.You’re keeping me warm.”She was so light, like a butterfly perched on his back.The benefit of her body heat balanced out the extra weight to carry, and besides…there was nothing in the world more important than getting her to safety.

The journey seemed to take an eternity, so long he lost track of the passage of time.All he heard was the wild moaning of the wind, the impact of his boots in the snow, and Lila’s soft breathing near his ear.

He kept his gaze fixed on their path through the snow, while she watched out for dangers looming ahead.With this degree of visibility, she barely caught sight of things before they were on top of them.A tree branch poking up through the snow.A pipe that probably marked a sewer line.A signpost that, once they got close to it, read Snow River, 100 yards.

A hundred yards.He could do that.One step at a time, that was all.A step, then another step.

A subtle roar grew deeper as they got closer to the river.The water was still flowing under there, he’d say maybe a foot under the surface.It wouldn’t be safe for him to carry her like this on the ice.Their combined weight would be too much.

When they reached the edge of the river, which was barely visible through the dense whirling veil of snow, he let her slip down his body.Panting, he stood with his body angled against the wind, shielding her from the worst of it.He scanned the darkness for any sign of a snowmobile, but couldn’t see one.

“We’re going to have to walk on the ice,” he told her softly.“I’ll go first.If it takes my weight, it’ll take yours.”

“Wait,” she panted.“What about the snowmobiles?”

“They’re probably up at the compound.Shit.”He was so weary it was hard to talk.The idea of trudging miles through a blizzard down Snow River seemed impossible.But he wasn’t thinking clearly.The cold and the exertion had gotten to him.His eyes hurt from straining to see where he was going.All his muscles ached.

Lila took his face in her gloved hands.He blinked at her through the flying snow.“Bear.Listen to me.We need to make ourselves a place to stay safe until the blizzard’s over.Okay?Do you understand?”

As if through a long tunnel, her eyes drew him back to himself.Pulled him from confusion into clarity—about at least one thing.“I love you,” he said through the howl of the wind.“No matter what happens tonight, I love you.”

“I love you, too.”Her violet eyes held him in a kind of spell.In those depths, he saw everything—love, the future, the present, the past.“I love you completely, and forever.Now focus, Bear.Can we make a shelter of some kind?”

He forced himself back to the demands of the present.Survival.Lila was right.They’d die on that river of ice.“A snow shelter.Yeah, we can do that.The elders taught me how.”

They trudged into the woods along the river until he found the right kind of spot.Deep snow, relatively calm.While Lila dug out the snow by hand, he searched for branches to construct a roof.It took an hour, maybe more, until they could crawl into the space and pull the branches over them.

“Snow will cover up the branches and keep us hidden,” he told her.“The snow is insulation, and our combined body heat will do a lot.”

“Do you think they’ll look for us?”

“No.They’re here for one thing, set fire to that compound.We’re collateral damage.They’ll assume we’re still in that shed.”

“Ugh.You know, I hate to say bad things about people, but those guys are really just no good, are they?”

He laughed, then laughed again, and they held each other and quaked with laughter.“I meant what I said just now,” he told her when he’d gotten it out of his system.“I love you.I love you hard.No going back from it.”

She snuggled into his arms and sighed happily.“Is it wrong to feel completely happy even though we’re hiding out in a snow shelter so we don’t get burnt to a crisp by traffickers?”

He chuckled and held her more tightly.The whine of the wind became a lullaby.Slowly his face went from numb to tingling as his body warmed.Just when he thought Lila was asleep, she murmured, “You made sure I had a place to stay, didn’t you?When I first got here?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

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