by Nancy M Bell
“I’ll stay. You have the twins to worry about, and Walter.” She paused. “By the way, have you seen Anna in the last little while?”
Agnes frowned and shook her head. “Not since lunch time. She was worrying over those chickens again, but then she disappeared. Said she was going up to her room to read.”
“I haven’t heard her stir at all. Maybe you should check on her, she might have fallen asleep and if the heater has gone out…” Elsie lifted a shoulder. “I’ll watch your pape. If I need you, I’ll call.”
Agnes nodded and left, her footsteps soft on the floorboards of the hall. Elsie sank back into the chair pulling the quilt up against the brisk breeze coming in the window. Her eyes started to close, the jerk of her head nodding startled her awake.
“Mome!”
The near hysteria in Agnes voice brought Elsie to her feet, quilt sliding to pool on the floor. She glanced at Ike, but he appeared oblivious to the commotion. A new pang of fear spiked her heart.
“Mome!” The door burst open, narrowly missing bouncing off the wall. Agnes stood in the doorway, eyes wild.
“What is it? Is there a fire?” Elsie crossed to peer over the other woman’s shoulder into the hall.
“No. It’s Anna.” She choked on a sob.
“What about Anna? Has she come down with something too?” Elsie made to push past her daughter.
Agnes shook her head, wiping tears from her cheeks. “It’s worse. She’s gone.”
“What do you mean…gone? Where could the child go in this storm? The drifts are up to the windows…” Her voice trailed off as realization hit. “The chickens. She’s gone to look after the chickens.”
Agnes nodded and followed Elsie down the hall into Anna’s room. The curtains were drawn, but belled in a slight draft. Elsie pulled the material back to reveal the window frame unlatched and slightly ajar. She yanked the window open and peered out. This part of the house was out of the direct blast of the storm but the drifts were still as high as the lower story eaves. Half closing her eyes against the sting of the wind driven snow, Elsie looked down. Small depressions, rapidly filling with snow, were still visible below the window and across the narrow overhang of the lower floor. Beyond the eaves of the house no tracks were obvious. She retreated back into the shelter of the bedroom and shoved the window closed.
“Don’t latch it, Mome. She’ll come back the way she left,” Agnes said.
If she can come back. Elsie didn’t voice the thought aloud.
“What can we do? I have to tell Walter.” Agnes paced back and forth in the small room. “How could she be so stupid to go out in this weather? She’s old enough to know how dangerous a blizzard can be.”
“We should have paid more attention to her when she worried about the hens. Although I honestly would never have expected she would do anything like this.”
“We have to go out and find her,” Agnes declared, glaring at the window as if it was the inanimate object’s fault.
“Go and tell Walter what’s happened. Send the twins up to me. I can keep an eye on them while I watch your father.”
Agnes ran from the room, steps echoing in the hallway and then clattering down the stairs. “Walter, Walter!” Her voice came faintly to Elsie’s ears.
Elsie checked the heater in the twins’ room and then went to sit by Ike. She moved the snow packs and replaced the ones that were growing too soft. There was a bit of water pooled on the canvas which she soaked up with another towel. His forehead felt a bit cooler, but she couldn’t be sure if was because the fever was less, or if his skin was just cold from the snow.
She glanced at the hand painted clock on the dresser. In another few minutes she needed to remove the snow packs and wait another ten minutes before taking his temperature again. Tiny shrill voices whispering announced the arrival of the twins. They poked their heads in the door, holding their finger to their lips.
“Mome said to be quiet,” they whispered in unison.
Elsie smiled in spite of herself. She went to join them and drew them back into the hall. “Would you like to play in your room? There’s that puzzle with the horse and cows you two haven’t finished yet. Shall I set that up for you?”
“What’s wrong with Opa?” Willy peered back into the room.
“How come he didn’t say hi?” Doris asked.
“Opa isn’t feeling well. He’ll be better soon, but for now we need to be quiet and let him rest, okay?”
“Okay.” Two blonde heads nodded seriously like little adults. “We can play puzzle. Maybe Anna can read to us?”
Elsie’s heart jumped a bit before she managed to calm her expression. “Anna’s busy right now.”
“Doing what?” Willy wanted to know. “I don’t see her?”
“She’s doing something for your Mome. You’ll see her later. C’mon, let’s get that puzzle out. Then I have to go check and see how Opa is”
Elsie hustled the twins into their room and got out the puzzle. Leaving them happily sorting out the pieces she looked in on Ike. His breathing seemed a bit easier, though when she checked his temperature it still registered at one-hundred and three. She removed the snow packed towels and covered him again. The worry of frostbite overrode the attempt to bring his temperature down. It was up to the good Lord now, she’d done all she could.
On the stairs she met Agnes and Walter on the way up. Walter’s face was grim, and tears stained Agnes’ cheeks.
“I left the twins in their room playing.”
“Thanks, Mome,” Agnes replied.
“What are we going to do about Anna?” Elsie spoke quietly.
“I’m going to go out and see if I can find her.” Walter’s voice was rough with worry.
“You can’t. The storm hasn’t let up, and you’ll only risk getting lost in it yourself,” Elsie protested. “We can only hope she made it to the chicken house and managed to get the fire going in the stove.”
“Anna’s out there alone.” Agnes wrung her hands and glanced at her husband.
“I’m going. This will help me find my way back.” Walter held up a thick coil of rope Elise hadn’t noticed he carried.
She followed them back up the stairs into Anna’s room. Agnes pulled the door shut to keep the keening wind from swooping through the house. Walter dragged the single bed across to the window and tied the end of the rope to the bed post. He buttoned his coat and turned the collar up, wrapping a long scarf around his neck and over his lower face. Agnes handed him a knitted hat and mitts. He slung a bag over his shoulder containing extra mitts and warm clothes for Anna. Wrestling open the window he gingerly stepped out onto the packed drift, sat down and strapped on a pair of snow shoes.
“Be careful,” Elsie urged him. “When the rope runs out, you be sure to come back.”
“I’m going to find Anna,” Walter replied. “Shut the window behind me.”
A blast of wind whirled snow into the room, belling the curtains around Elsie. By the time she fought free and Agnes managed to close the window, Walter was engulfed in the storm and even his footprints were already filling in.
“I’ll keep watch, Mome. You go see to Pape. Leave the door open a bit so I can hear if the twins need me.”
With a last look at the snow encrusted window, Elsie slipped out the door and returned to Ike’s bedside. The florid colour of his face was alarming, the man was burning up again. His body convulsed with a weak effort to cough before subsiding against the mattress. A blue tinge coloured his lips and deep purple circles pouched beneath his eyes.
Elsie knelt beside the bed and prayed with all her might. For Ike, and for Anna, and Walter, out in the blizzard trying to find his daughter. If only the snow would stop. She spared a thought for the rest of her family and prayed all was well with them. There had been no contact since the telephone lines went down and the radio batteries were running low. The last bit of news they’d heard was the blizzard reached all the way to Alberta, and Winnipeg was trapped in deep snow. The trains w
eren’t running and all other ground transportation was at a halt. Even in the cities people were running out of food and fuel.
She was weary, so tired for fighting the storm and Ike’s illness. Now Anna was lost too. Elsie laid her head on her arms and gave into a moment of weakness. Her tears wet the sleeves of her blouse while she prayed harder than she’d ever prayed in her life.
Needing to do something, she got to her feet and retrieved the towels she’d set to dry by the heater. Heedless of the driving wind, she opened the window enough to collect more snow to pack around her husband. Ike muttered and shifted weakly away from the compresses as she tucked them around him. Leaving him, Elsie looked in on the twins who were still playing quietly. There was no sound from Anna’s room. She pushed open the door and crossed to stand beside Agnes at the window.
“How is Pape,” Agnes asked. She laid a hand on her mother’s tear streaked cheek.
“As well as can be expected, I suppose. There isn’t much change. How long has Walter been out there?” Elsie changed the subject, it was easier to worry about Walter than face the possible outcome of Ike’s sickness.
“Too long.” Agnes picked up the slack rope. “Either he hasn’t reached the end yet, or he’s untied it and gone on without it.”
“I’m sure he won’t do anything unwise,” Elsie said.
“I’ll wait another ten minutes and then I’m going to go find him. What if he’s fallen in a drift and hurt himself?” Agnes glanced at her watch.
“I don’t think you should.” Elsie shook her head.
“I can’t just keep sitting here and doing nothing.” Agnes paced to the door and back. “I’m going downstairs to get my coat and scarf.”
“If you’re determined I don’t suppose anything I say will stop you. I’ll keep watch here until you get back.” Agnes turned back to stare at the window, willing Walter to appear out of the swirling white world that beat on the glass panes.
Her daughter’s footsteps echoed hollowly in the stairwell. Agnes stopped to assure the twins everything was fine on her way back to Anna’s room. Elsie whipped around at the scrape of the window frame. Fine snow stung her face as the window swung inward and Walter all but fell into the room. Ice and snow clung to every inch of him, his eyebrows hoary with white frost. Agnes burst through the door with a cry of relief. Elsie peered out into the blizzard, but there was no sign of anyone following her son-in-law. She shoved the window closed with a heavy heart, and went to help Agnes divest Walter of his frozen outer garments. Elsie avoided her daughter’s gaze. Somehow if Anna’s absence wasn’t spoken aloud, it kept the truth of the situation at bay for the moment.
“I couldn’t find her,” Walter croaked, collapsing onto the narrow bed. “The chicken house is buried up to the top of chimney. I tried to dig down but…”
“She must have got inside before the drift got that deep. There was smoke coming out the chimney, wasn’t there?” Agnes pulled off his boots and then his socks. Snow had found its way into the boots and down the socks as well.
Walter met Elsie’s gaze before answering his wife. “There was no smoke. I’m sorry.”
“Still, Anna’s a smart girl. She’ll be fine. She’s inside with those chickens of hers, keeping warm. The snow will act as insulation.” Agnes clung to the belief her eldest child was safe and sound.
“It’s always good to have hope,” Elsie said. She picked up the clothes that were starting to spread melt water into a puddle on the floor. “I’ll take these down to the kitchen and hang them to dry. Walter, you need to get something hot into you. I’ll make some coffee.”
Passing her own room she looked in on Ike. He lay unmoving on the pillows, mouth slightly agape as he struggled for breath. Moving swiftly, she continued down to the kitchen. The water was bubbling in the big cauldron attached to the stove. She set the coffee to brew and hung the dripping clothes to dry.
“Thanks, Mome.” Agnes and Walter came into the kitchen. “I’m going to make a snack for the twins and get some food into Walter. Do you want anything?”
“I’m going to go sit with your father.”
Experience told her the illness was approaching a turning point. Hadn’t she seen it with the little ones with the diarrhea and fever in Paraguay? There was always a time when the sickness reached a crescendo, and then tipped either toward wellness or death. She refused to entertain thoughts of failure. Ike would get well again. He had too. Elsie pushed open the door and settled in the chair beside the bed.
The snow towels were finished and she removed them, dumping them in the pail she used to collect the snow. Taking Ike’s hand in hers she closed her eyes and prayed. At some point she must have fallen asleep. There was a crick in her neck and she no longer held Ike’s hand. Blinking in the dim light she focussed on the man in the bed. To her surprise, he’d turned on his side and was facing the wall. She put a hand on his shoulder to roll him onto his back. Ike’s breathing was less laboured and when Elsie placed a hand on his forehead it felt cooler than before. He moved restlessly as she stuck the thermometer into his armpit. One-hundred and two! A wave of relief swept over her, it was almost too much to bear. While he wasn’t out of the woods yet, it was a step in the right direction. Elsie took a moment to thank God for His mercy before going to give Agnes and Walter the good news. Now if only Anna would be found safe and sound.
* * *
The great blizzard of 1947 raged on for another three days. The only bright spot was Ike’s continued improvement. Anna’s absence ached in Elsie’s heart like a boil waiting to be lanced. She wasn’t sure what Agnes had told the twins, but they ceased to ask where their sister was. Walter went about the house like a ghost, pausing to stare at the closed curtains over the blocked windows. He and Agnes looked after the barn chores and bringing in the wood from the shed. Elsie spent the long days tending to Ike and knitting. Doing barn chores would have helped make the time go faster, but she knew Agnes and Walter needed the distraction much more than she did.
On February 8, 1947 the storm finally blew itself out. It left the three prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta buried under many feet of snow. The radio reception improved and stories of hardship and survival began to spill forth. Trains were trapped in deep drifts and had to be dug out by hand. Some lucky passengers had been dug out and taken to refuge in nearby houses. Those who were stranded in the middle of nowhere had to do the best they could with what was available on the train. It took some time before the tracks were cleared and the telephone service restored.
* * *
As soon as the snow stopped Walter, Agnes and Elsie began the task of digging out a path to the chicken house. Although Ike protested he was well able to help, he was relegated to the big chair in the living room. The temperature had risen from the minus 32 degrees of a few days ago, but it was still cold and windy. In spite of the weather a trickle of sweat ran down Elsie’s spine inside her layers of coats and sweaters. She paused to wipe her eyes which were watering in the glare of sun reflected off miles of drifted snow. The harsh croak of a raven broke the silence seconds before the dark shadow flitted across the white canvas below. Ahead of her, Walter paused to follow the path of the bird, vivid sable against the brilliant clear blue sky.
“I’ve hit something!” Agnes called. She straightened and thrust her shovel into the snow. “I think it’s the edge of the chicken house roof.”
The blue eyes were bright in her pale face when Elsie met Agnes’ strained gaze. Snow inched down her boots while she tramped along the path they’d dug. She needed to be with her daughter, beside her to face whatever God had decided. Walter reached his wife before Elsie, pausing to squeeze her mittened hand before he began clearing the area where Agnes made the strike.
“Let me help,” Agnes offered. “I can’t just stand here.”
“Stay back until I get enough cleared to see what we’re dealing with.” Walter didn’t pause in his work.
A white mist of dry snow flew up before b
eing caught in the wind and showering down over the two women who stood with eyes closed, mouths moving silently in prayer.
“Now.” Walter turned to them. “Hand me the axe, Agnes. I need to break through the roof.”
Elsie released her daughter’s hand so she could hand Walter the axe out of the bucket they’d dragged with them. She stood back while Walter tore a hole in the shingles and roof boards of the hen house.
“Anna?” He leaned down and peered into the dark interior. “Anna, it’s Pape. Are you there? Can you answer me?”
There was no response except the whisper of the snow snaking before the prairie wind.
“Can you see anything?” Agnes’s voice wavered and she clamped her bottom lip between her teeth.
“I’m going to drop in and see if she’s in there.”
Walter sat in the cleared space and shoved his feet into the hole. Elsie held her breath as he disappeared into the darkness. The two women moved closer to the gap, dark against the stark white landscape. The rustling of straw and then the scape of a match was the only sound.
“Is she there?” Agnes leaned over the opening. “Anna? It’s Mome, can you hear me?”
“Wait, Agnes. Let Walter have a chance to get his bearing,” Elsie said. Her heart sat heavy in her chest. Surely if Anna was there she would have said something by now. And if the girl wasn’t there, then where was she? Not in the barn or the wood shed, so where?
“Anna? Anna?” Walter’s voice echoed from below.
“Have you found her?” Agnes knelt at the edge of the hole.
There was a rustling of straw and silence before Walter’s voice echoed out of the dark maw of the gap in the roof.
“She’s here. I’m going to hand her up to you. Can you both manage to pull her out? Throw down the blanket.”
“Oh yes, yes!” Agnes reached down. “Mome, I need your help.”
Elsie kneeled by her daughter. Her hands trembled from more than the cold. Why didn’t the child say anything? She must be unconscious. That was it. They just needed to get her warmed up. Frantic thoughts bounced in her mind, refusing to touch the knowledge of what she knew must be.
