Snowed Over (A Christmas Novella) (5 page)

“I wish I did. We’ve got to get you out of the cold, and soon.”

The wind howled through the trees that lined the left side of the road. “Let’s go. I’m afraid if I stop for too long, I won’t be able to keep going,” she said.

Alex put his arm around her and pulled her close, practically holding her upright. She tucked her body into his, which helped block some of the wind. They trudged forward like dazed zombies through the deepening snow, praying for a break in the tree line that would indicate a driveway.

A few minutes later, when her backpack felt like the weight of the world, Alex pointed. “What’s that?”

Katie squinted and spied a shadow of something at the side of the road. A few steps later, her heart leapt.
 

“A mailbox!”

Chapter 5

Sure enough, a thin break in the trees revealed a narrow driveway that wound out of sight. Thoughts of freezing to death disappeared. Instead Katie pictured a roaring fire, hot chocolate and a big dinner.
 

They picked up their pace and followed the path that would lead to salvation. She hoped.
 

The snow here piled higher. It appeared that no one had plowed this driveway all season, so instead of dealing only with today’s storm, they had all the snowfall to-date slowing their progress. Even with Alex forging the way and creating a trail, Katie still had to lift her legs high to get through. Each step became torture as her frozen jeans rubbed her legs raw. She grit her teeth and pushed on.

“There it is!” Alex yelled with renewed energy.

Katie paused to catch her breath, spying the distant cabin. “Thank God.” She didn’t know how much longer she could go on.

Ahead, in a small clearing, nestled a quaint log cabin coated in snow like a gingerbread house with frosting dripping off the side. The only thing that took away from its storybook quality was the lack of smoke streaming from the chimney and an absence of light glowing warmly from within.

Katie noticed a shed with a long row of snow-covered firewood lining one side. They dragged themselves through the deep snow to the cabin door.

“Any chance they left the door unlocked for us?” She yelled over the whistling wind.

Alex pushed snow out from in front of the screen door with his boot. “I doubt we could be so lucky.” He pulled on the screen door until he wedged it open far enough to reach the doorknob. “Locked.”

Katie sighed. She wanted out of the elements. Now.

“I’ll have to break a window.” Alex left the front door and walked around the cabin.

“What are you doing?” Katie followed him back into the deep snow.

“I’d rather break a window in a bedroom and not the main part of the cabin. It will be hard to keep the wind and snow out once we break in.”

Katie nodded, hugging herself, thankful to be with such a smart, resourceful guy.
 

They struggled around the perimeter trying to figure which window might be a bedroom. The first window Alex peered in looked like a kitchen. A couple of large windows indicated a main room that probably looked out over a scenic view, but whatever the view might be on a sunny day, it was obliterated by the darkness and blowing snow.
 

They reached the other side and discovered two smaller windows. “I think this is our best shot,” Alex said.

The bottom edge of the window was about four feet off the ground and even with the snow, it didn’t give them much advantage. Katie noticed a screen covering the window. “How are we going to get past the screen?”

“Have you got a jackknife on you?” Alex grinned and despite his chafed red face and their horrible circumstances, she couldn’t help but grin back. Even covered in snow and practically freezing to death, Alex looked sexy as hell.
 

“Sure, right here with my thermos of hot chocolate and hand warmers.” She must be hallucinating from the cold. Why else would she be thinking about his good looks at a time like this?

Alex slipped off a glove and fished in his pocket. He pulled out his car keys. He handed her his glove to hold and ran the key over the screen, his hand shaking from the cold. The key created a dent in the old metal, but didn’t break through. He ran it over the side of the screen where the mesh attached to the frame, but no luck.
 

He glanced at Katie. She saw his determination. He repositioned the keys in his hand and she knew how frozen his fingers must feel. He jabbed the key straight at the screen instead of at an angle and punctured through. He dragged the key down, hard. The metal ripped. He made a four-inch tear and shoved the keys back in his pockets. He slipped his fingers through the gap he made and yanked hard on the screen, creating a larger and larger opening.

Thank God.

Alex brought his bare hand to his mouth and blew warm air on it.

“Here, you want to put your glove back on?”
 

He nodded, his face red, and slipped his hand in. Then he tore away the screen exposing the window.

“Stand back. I’m going to try to break it with my shoulder.”

“That sounds dangerous. You could get cut really bad.”

“Have any better ideas? See any bricks laying around?” He scanned the area.

“No, but I saw a wood pile back by the shed. Maybe a piece of wood will work.”

Alex nodded.

“I’ll go get a piece.” She turned to fetch the wood.

Alex’s grabbed her arm and stopped her. “No. You can barely stand. I’ll get it. Wait here.” He literally leaned her up against the side of the cabin and disappeared around the corner. She didn’t argue; her feet felt like lead and her body was so cold she could barely move.

A couple minutes later, Alex returned with a piece of wood. “You better stand back, just in case glass flies everywhere.” He gripped the wood in his gloved hands and tapped it firm against the window. Nothing. He hit it again, harder, creating a crack. Then he swung back hard and nailed it.
 

The glass shattered. He ran the wood over the inside edges of the window frame to knock the jagged glass away. He brushed stray shards off the side and turned to Katie. “We’re sleeping inside tonight.”

She sighed in relief, thankful to finally find a safe haven.

“I’ll climb in and come around to the door.”

That was fine with her. She didn’t know if she could navigate her stiff, frozen limbs through the window.
 

Alex brushed the edge of the sill again, put his gloved hands on it and jumped up. He ducked his head and disappeared inside, his legs scraping the edge as he went.

Katie held her breath, praying he was okay. A couple seconds later, he popped up, looking happier than he had the whole trip. “Go around to the back door. I’ll meet you there.”

She picked up the piece of firewood and hugged it, hurrying the best she could to the door. For an instant, she panicked, afraid he wouldn’t be there to let her in, that she’d be stuck outside. But her fears prove false as the door flew open, and Alex reached forward to help her in.

He closed the door after her, blocking out the frigid winds. She sighed, so exhausted and cold from their trek. She looked around the dark room, stunned at the quiet of the cabin compared to outside. They stood in a kitchen with a counter jutting out. The shadows of furniture loomed in the space beyond.

Alex removed his gloves and rubbed his hands together. “I am so cold, my fingers could fall off.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel warm again. Oh, here. I figured we’d need this.” She set the piece of firewood on the counter, her backpack and purse followed.

Alex fumbled in his coat pockets and pulled out the flashlight. “Let’s get a look around and see what we’ve got. There’s no electricity; I checked. Either the owner turned it off when he left, or the storm knocked down the power lines.”

He directed the light slowly around the cabin, revealing a tiny kitchen that opened up into a main living area. A big, old brown couch anchored the room with a log coffee table on a large braided rug in front of a fieldstone fireplace.
 

“Bingo!” Alex turned to her, his voice so bright that she could picture his great smile.

Thank goodness
. They examined the fireplace closer and found a poker and brush in a stand, a basket of old newspapers, and on the mantle an old kerosene lamp. She wondered if it was a decorative antique or something they could actually use. She found a couple of framed pictures, most likely the owners whose home they’d just busted into, and a large box of stick matches.

“Let’s start a fire right away.” Katie couldn’t keep the urgency out of her voice. She moved to the kitchen to grab the chunk of wood. Her jeans felt like hard cardboard against her frozen skin.

Alex kneeled before the hearth with the chain curtain open, crumpling newspaper. “Here, take the flashlight and see if there’s any wood stacked over there.”

Katie aimed the beam at the other side of the fireplace and discovered a metal pail with wood. She lugged it over. “There’s only three pieces.”

“Thanks. That’ll be enough to get a fire started. I’ll get more wood in a few minutes.”

“I can fetch some now,” she offered.
 

“No,
you
need to get warm. You’re shivering.”
 

Katie resisted the urge to hug him. She really didn’t want to go back outside. “Thanks.”
 

While he organized the newspaper and wood, she pointed the flashlight beam at the fireplace.
 

He struck a match and lit the edges of the paper. “There you go. Burn baby, burn.”

The tiny flames quickly spread, catching more paper on fire. Katie moved closer, longing for warmth. Within a minute the paper engulfed into flames, but a few seconds later, smoke poured into the room.
 

Chapter 6

Katie coughed and backed away.

“Oh shit! I forgot to open the flu.” He reached into the fireplace.

“The what?” She waved through the smoke that billowed from the fireplace.

“The flu, the damper. It’s kept closed to keep air out when the fireplace isn’t in use.” He fiddled underneath and coughed. Eventually, the smoke stopped snaking into the room and trailed up the chimney instead. “There, that should do it.”

Katie knelt next to Alex to watch the small flames as they devoured the newspaper and caught on the corners of the wood. They held their hands close to the growing fire. Katie let a whisper of heat touch her fingers. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

Alex glanced at her and smiled.
 

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. You make me laugh. It doesn’t take much to make you happy does it?”

She wrinkled her forehead. “Like surviving a near death experience?”

“I wasn’t going to let you die. You were always safe with me.” He nudged her with his shoulder.

“Yeah, until you drove your truck into a river and made me walk ten miles through a blizzard in wet clothes, which, by the way, are now frozen solid.” She arched an eyebrow.

“My bad.” He chuckled. “Just for that, I’ll bring in more firewood?”

“Don’t you want to wait and warm up a little first?”

“No. I’d rather stock up now and not have to go back out for a while.” He grabbed his gloves and disappeared back outside, into the cold abyss.
 

Katie wiped her nose on her sleeve as she was out of tissues. She cleared the area next to the fireplace to make space for the wood. Even though she still couldn’t stop shivering, she unzipped her coat and pulled out the slightly bent sour dough bread. Luckily it didn’t appear to be wet. They’d be eating it soon.

The door flew open. Along with a frigid gust of wind and snow, Alex brought in an enormous pile of wood. He wasn’t kidding when he said he was stocking up.
 

“Over here. I cleared a spot.”

He crossed the room and eased the pile onto the stone hearth and went out for more. She stacked the wood in a neat pile and tossed two more pieces on the fire, to make sure their precious heat source didn’t extinguish.
 

Alex brought in two more loads, and in between organizing the wood, and thawing herself by the fire, Katie moved her belongings to the side of the couch.
 

“That ought to hold us for a while.” He lowered the last of the wood to the floor and then stood in front of the open flames.

“Great job. It actually feels warmer in here.” She shivered from the cold wetness of her thawing jeans.
 

Alex noticed. “You need to find some dry clothes. We both do.” Snow covered his jeans well past his knees from tromping through the drifts. “There might be some clothes in that back bedroom.”

“I’ll take a look.” She grabbed the flashlight and opened the bedroom door. A cold blast blew. The freezing room sucked away any warmth she’d managed to coax back into her body. Broken window glass covered the floor, and snow dusted the small room. The owners were not going to be happy, but she and Alex had no choice. It was break in or die. She knew her parents would pay for the damages. Then she thought of her mom and how worried she must be and how much more worried she’d be when they failed to show up. Katie never gave her mom Alex’s number, so she couldn’t try to contact him either.