THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL (22 page)

How could Joy convey the need to hurry, without scaring Bea? She sure wasn’t taking the subtle suggestions seriously. “Hey Bea. Want to go get a taco?”

Beatrice’s face lit up. “With extra sour cream?”

“You bet.”

“Well then we better hurry.” She had no concern for the two-hour time frame Joy had set now that tacos were on the table.

“Cool. Let’s take a quick picture then go.” Joy brought her phone to life and opened the camera app. But not before checking for reception again. No Service. “Why don’t you go stand by him and smile?”

Beatrice lumbered over to the snowman. She put her arms around him and grinned as Joy took the picture and glanced at the display. Kind of tough to make out the image with the snow swirling all around them. Hopefully that wouldn’t be the last picture ever taken of Beatrice, but if they didn’t get out of there, it would be.

The snow blocked out the sun, making it appear much later than it was. “Beatrice, we need to go right now. We have to get to the car so we can get out of this storm.”

Beatrice looked around in horror as realization of the brewing weather set in.

Joy watched the panic rise in her cousin’s eyes. Oh no. Why hadn’t she said snow instead of storm? “Now, don’t worry. Take my hand. We’re going back to the car.” Joy turned to head north. Wait. Was north this way or that way? Joy turned in a full circle searching for something familiar. Anything. She scanned the area, but their footprints were long gone, buried beneath the snow.

GPS. She’d check her phone. Joy ripped her glove off with her teeth then dug in her pocket until her numb fingers touched her phone. She yanked it out and glanced at the screen. Of course. No service. Without service the GPS couldn’t locate them.

Her heart raced as she tugged on her glove, fighting off the possibilities that attacked her mind.

Silas nuzzled her hand, his warm breath a real comfort through the barrier of her gloves and the boundaries of the flesh.

Silas! He would see them home. Wouldn’t he?

“Are we lost, Joy?” Beatrice’s hesitant voice warned Joy of what she’d hoped to avoid. Her cousin looked around with wild eyes.

“Bea. Listen to me. You can’t cry. Your face will get wet and then you’ll be really cold. Just be a brave girl. We’re going to be fine. We just need to start walking …”—Just take a guess. Joy turned her body—” … that way.”

Silas woofed and wagged his tail. He tugged her sleeve opposite of the way Joy had pointed. Really? Did he mean to lead them? Relief crowded out some of the panic.

“Oops. Sorry. I mean this way.” Hopefully the renewed confidence Silas had given Joy would comfort Beatrice, too.

“Guide us, boy,” Joy whispered. “We need you, buddy.”

Beatrice scrunched her face in confusion. “Who are you talking to?”

She’d never understand if Joy told her the truth. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Oh, were you praying to ask God for help?” Beatrice wiped the snow off her eyes with her mittened hand. “Yeah, something like that.”

Silas howled and reared back. Joy stopped in her tracks. Were they going the wrong direction again? “Show me the way to go.”

“That’s really good, Joy. You’re talking to God; that’s really good.”

“Yes, Bea, it’s really good.” Joy closed her eyes against the stinging snow. “Just get us out of here, Silas,” she whispered.

Bea’s eyes searched the space around them. “Something doesn’t feel right. I want to pray out loud.”

Joy nodded. Not that it would help other than calming Bea down, but it sure couldn’t hurt anything either. “Okay. Hold my hands.”

Beatrice thrust her hands into Joy’s.

Joy took a deep breath. She could at least pretend. “Dear God …”

Silas growled. He pulled at Joy’s clothes and tried to shove her away from Beatrice.

Beatrice stared at Joy. “Come on. Pray.”

Joy kept one eye scrunched closed and the other trained on Silas. What was the matter with him? She just needed to squeak out one prayer to make Beatrice feel better so they could keep walking. “Jesus, we need Your he—”

J
oy’s senses were yanked from the present and shoved into a dream.

Silas dropped his chest to the ground, ready to pounce at her, foam dripping from his bared teeth.

She tried to run, but her concrete-filled legs wouldn’t move. What was wrong with him? He was supposed to protect her, take away her fear. Her heart thundered in her chest. Could he hurt her body from the spirit realm? Did she want to take the chance and find out?

She searched her surroundings. No way she could outrun him. Besides, if she ran, Bea would be an open target.

Silas gnashed his teeth and barked.

The tree? Joy peered up into the high boughs. No way she could get up there fast enough, besides … Beatrice.

The wolf bit a hunk of Joy’s coat and pulled with angry animal strength, pulling her away from Beatrice. He ran in a circle around Joy, keeping her penned and separated from Bea. Steam from his breath shot out like flames.

Was all this just because she prayed? “Shh. Silas. It’s okay. I won’t do it anymore.” She had to get him back on her side. Had to convince him. Then they had to get out of there before she lost her mind. Or before Silas got any angrier.

“Joy, you’re really scaring me.” Beatrice’s voice teetered on the edge of high-pitched hysteria. “Keep praying.”

Joy imagined what the scene must look like to Bea. She had no idea why Joy was huddled in the storm, terrified, her eyes searching for the raging wolf as he leaped around her.

Just act calm and fix this. She offered Bea a soft smile … at least she tried. “One sec.” Joy turned her back and took a few steps away, Silas circling her, right at her feet. “I’m not praying for real, Silas. I have to do this so I can get Beatrice to calm down.”

Silas stopped in his tracks. He let out a growl and one last huff as he backed away just enough that Joy felt free from him. For the moment.

Joy spun around to find Beatrice standing only a few feet away, her mouth agape. She’d heard everything. Tears coursed down Bea’s face. “You lied to me. Who were you talking to? I’m scared. What are we going to do?” Beatrice threw the questions into the windy storm and covered her face with her hands.

What could she say to Beatrice that wouldn’t cause more problems than they already had? “It’s okay. Trust me. I’ll get you home.” Well, Silas would, anyway. If she could get him to calm down enough to lead them.

Beatrice shook her head. “No.”

“No? What do you mean?”

“I can’t trust you, and I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re following someone who’s not God.” She shrugged. “So I can’t follow you.”

Oh, sweet, simple Bea. Her faith so strong, yet … ridiculous.

Joy couldn’t very well leave her cousin to freeze to death in the snow while she ran for help, could she? But what choice did she have? Maybe if she went for help, Silas would stay back to protect Bea. But if he did, how would Joy find the car? And how would she find Bea again once she did?

“Come on. There’s no time for this.” She couldn’t worry about scaring Bea anymore. In fact, she needed to terrify her. “Listen to me, Beatrice. You can be mad at me later, but right now we have to get out of this storm or we’ll die. We’ll freeze out here.”

Beatrice shook her head. “God will protect me if He wants to. Burning in a fiery furnace or freezing in a snowy blizzard, He’ll protect me because I’m not going to walk away from Him to follow something bad.”

This was going nowhere. Time for a different approach. “Beatrice Pauline O’Malley, I am giving you a direct order to come with me right now.”

Beatrice shook her head and sat on a stump. “Nope.” She crossed her arms and turned her head away.

Lord, help me
. … Joy shot a glance at Silas. The prayer had escaped her thoughts before she could stop it. Well at least she hadn’t spoken it out loud, and Silas hadn’t read her mind. Come to think of it, it didn’t appear he could. That could be helpful to her.

Later she’d have to examine why her heart had cried out to God instinctively. Was that a leftover from her childhood faith, or was it something bigger? No time to figure it all out now.

A shrill ring pierced the stormy wind. What was that? It sounded like a phone. Not possible. Not in the middle of a blizzard at the bottom of a canyon. She bit her glove and jerked her hand out then touched the C
ALL
button. “Mom? Are you there?” Keep the panic to a minimum.

“Oh, thank You, Jesus.” Mom sighed. “Are you both okay?”

Define
okay
. “Yeah, we’re pretty shook up, but we’re fine.”

“Thank the Lord. Where are you?”

“I might lose coverage again—the storm, you know.” Joy searched for a landmark. “I’m not exactly sure, but we’re down at the base of the canyon at Ash Hollow. I can’t figure out how to get back to the car because I have no visibility and no GPS.”

“Your dad and some rescue guys are up that way hoping for a lead. I’ll let them know where you are. Stay put. Okay?”

“Don’t worry. We’re not going anywhere.”

Time stood still as the snow pelted their bodies. A full hour had passed since she’d believed help was on the way. What if they’d gotten lost, too? Silas had disappeared, and Joy had no idea if he’d be back.

Beatrice wouldn’t speak to her. She’d kept her back to Joy ever since the phone call.

Speaking of the phone, Joy checked hers again. Still no service. None since she’d spoken to her frantic mom, whose panic had to be intense now. Oh, and Aunt Sue. The poor woman must be beside herself.

Joy shivered and blew into her freezing hands, the gloves wet on the inside, frozen on the outside. Soon frostbite would set in. Beatrice huddled against a tree. Out of the line of snowfall, but still subject to the freezing cold. Joy inched over to her cousin and put her arms around her. At least their body heat could protect them for a while.

Bea shrugged Joy’s arm off her shoulders, but Joy put it back. She could be mad, but Joy wouldn’t let her die of stubbornness.

A brief flicker of light poked through the branches. The moon? No. Too early. What was it? Come to think of it, there was a rumble coming from somewhere. An engine?

Could it be her dad?

“Joy?”

“Beatrice?”

“Joy?”

Men’s voices blended in with the roar of the wind and carried over to the spot where Joy lay covering her cousin. They’d made it. They were safe. “Right here,” she croaked. Had they heard her?

Joy scrambled to her feet. “Daddy? We’re here.” If only she had a flashlight to shine toward them. Oh! Her phone. Joy scrolled through her apps until she found the one she wanted and touched it. The flashlight image on the screen shot a bright light through her camera flash. Perfect.

The voices were growing quieter. The rescuers were moving away from them. She couldn’t let that happen.

Another option on the flashlight said SOS. Why not? She touched it, and the light intensified by at least three times and began to strobe. Joy stretched her arm and waved it overhead.

Nothing. Where had they gone? It was no use. They’d never be found in time. They would surely die out there. Joy scrunched her eyes closed. To have come so close to being saved and then lose it all. That was almost worse than if her phone had never rung, than if she’d never heard that voice call out her name.

Her eyes flew open. Was that what she was doing spiritually? What if she really was on the wrong path now? What if she’d been led the right way her whole life, but turned the other way when things got tough? What if the voice of God was silent to her, not because He wasn’t speaking, but because she wasn’t listening?

A crash to her left about knocked Joy off her feet. She spun around and gasped as a snowmobile skidded to a stop two feet from them.

“Bea! They’re here.” Joy watched as a man in a red snowsuit spoke into his radio.

“We’ve found them. Reconvene at the trucks.” He turned to her. “You’re Joy?”

She nodded.

“I’m Tom. That your cousin right there?”

Joy nodded. What? He wasn’t going to take the freezing girl if she wasn’t Bea? How about they get anyone they find out of here?

“Let’s get you two on back so I can take you to the search crew. Your daddy is going to be one happy fella.”

Beatrice eyed the stranger. Was she going to refuse to ride with him? After all the drilling into her head about stranger danger, there was a good chance she wouldn’t. Beatrice was relentless when it came to rules. How to handle it?

The man slid off his seat and approached Bea. He knelt in the snow and removed his mask so she could see his eyes. Smart move. “Beatrice?”

She nodded, shivering.

“Someone wants to talk to you.” He pressed a button on his radio. “Go ahead, ma’am.” He held it up to Bea’s ear. Aunt Sue’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Bea baby?”

“Mama?” Beatrice sobbed.

“Yes. Beatrice. Listen to me. This man is not a stranger. He’s there to help you. You can get on his snowmobile and take a ride with him. Okay? Mama said so.”

“Okay. What’s his name?”

“What?” Sue sounded perplexed.

“If he’s not a stranger, he must have a name.”