Blizzard Night

by Marlane Kennedy

  And it did. As the three kids walked down the road, Jayden was able to catch his breath. The snow was really coming down now, and soon the deep woods around them sagged underneath thick piles of the stuff.

  Maggie and Connor were quiet. Probably worried about their father. It must be nice, in a way, to worry about family, Jayden thought. He’d been a foster kid for half his life. For the first few years, he’d lived with a kind elderly couple until health problems prevented them from keeping him. Then he’d stayed at a large group home with lots of other foster kids. It’d been loud all the time. And no one ever seemed to stick around very long. And now the Walcotts had taken him in. He’d always been treated just fine wherever he was, but he longed for a place that was truly home and a real family.

  The late-afternoon sun slanted onto the landscape, making everything from the tree branches to the road sparkle. Big flakes of snow melted on his nose and caught on his eyelashes. It was peaceful and still. Really beautiful, actually. Jayden had spent his whole life in the city and had never seen anything like it before. Snowfall in the city was different than out here. For one thing, it usually got dirty as soon as it fell! Here there was nothing to spoil it. He walked alongside Connor and Maggie and let a sense of wonder wash over him.

  Nearly thirty minutes later, the wind picked up. It bent the trees and whipped snow into Jayden’s face in icy blasts. The sky turned gloomy and dark. What had been a comfortable walk started to become miserable. All three kids popped their coat hoods over their heads to block out the chill.

  “Thank goodness we’re over halfway to the lake,” Maggie said, breaking the long silence. “I’m getting cold.”

  “Me, too,” said Connor. “But it won’t be long now.”

  Yet as soon as the words were spoken, the snow began to fall in blinding sheets. Jayden couldn’t see anything but whiteness. It was disorienting, and he couldn’t help stumbling. Maggie and Connor had to be right beside him, but he felt totally alone in the stark nothingness that suddenly enveloped him.

  Maggie called out to the boys, her voice drawing them closer until all three were finally huddled together. They stood still; almost afraid to move for fear of losing one another again in the swirl of white that swallowed everything. The snow was falling fast and furiously from every direction.

  “What do we do now?” Maggie shouted over the howling wind. “Who knows how long this blizzard will last! We’ll freeze to death just standing here!”

  “We could lock arms and keep walking,” Jayden shouted back. “That way we won’t lose each other again.”

  “Yes, let’s do that. We have to keep going!” Connor urged.

  With Maggie in the middle, and arms firmly intertwined, they began the trek to the lake cabins once again, taking cautious steps without knowing exactly what was in front of them. Everything around them had vanished. Jayden thought about how strange it was that the bright-white storm was just as difficult to negotiate as the pitch-black night.

  After a few minutes Jayden tripped and almost fell. The snow-covered ground seemed different here. Rougher. “I think we’ve wandered off the road,” he yelled.

  “This way!” Connor tugged them in another direction.

  But still the ground beneath their feet did not even out.

  Connor led as they pushed their way through the blowing snow. Jayden wondered how they’d ever find the road again. But before panic could rise in his chest, his thoughts were interrupted.

  “Ouch!” Connor cried. “I just ran into something.” He steadied himself against the obstacle that blocked their path. “A tree, I think. And its branches are sharp. Be careful!”

  They soldiered on, but it was only a matter of seconds until they smacked into another tree. And another. Still they struggled onward, not daring to let go of each other’s arms for fear the storm would separate and devour them. For all Jayden knew they could be walking in circles. But what else could they do? The damp coldness was starting to get to him, yet he knew moving was keeping them all warm.

  After nearly an hour of stumbling through brush and bumping into trees, the snowfall began to ease. It was still coming down at a steady pace, but they were finally able to make out what was around them. And even though it was quite obvious they were lost in the middle of the woods, Jayden was thrilled to be able to finally see Maggie’s and Connor’s faces.

  The three kids stopped and stared at one another, smiling with relief.

  “Does anyone see a clearing in the trees? A big open space that’d tell us where the road is — or even the lake, if we’re close enough?” Connor asked.

  They craned their necks to try to get their bearings, but in every direction, all that could be seen was snow-covered woods.

  “It’ll be dark soon. And the temperature has dropped. We should find shelter for the night while there’s still some light left,” Jayden said. “We can continue on in the morning.” He flashed back to a harrowing scene in his Everest book, where a climber had almost frozen to death from hypothermia but was saved by tunneling into the snow to protect himself from the wind and trap his body heat. Here, though, the snow just wasn’t deep enough yet to burrow into. Maybe they could find a hollow tree for shelter. His face already felt numb. I could start a fire with the matches I brought, he thought. I bet Maggie and Connor will be glad I tagged along. But before he could open his mouth to mention it, Maggie spoke.

  “No!” she said. “W-w-we can’t be that far away! In another tw-twenty minutes or so, we could be there. We should keep going.”

  “I agree with Maggie,” Connor said. “The sun hasn’t gone down yet and if we reach help soon, then by midnight Dad will have his leg in a cast and we can all spend the night in our own cabin. That’s a heck of a lot better than huddling up here in the woods.”

  Jayden knew he was outnumbered, so he didn’t argue. Plus he wanted to help their dad just as much as they did. He just hoped they were right. “So which way do we go?” he asked.

  The sky was too overcast to see where the sun was setting. There was no clue which way was north, south, east, or west.

  “Let’s head that way.” Connor pointed. “It is to the right of our footsteps so at least we won’t be going backward.” He started walking, while Maggie and Jayden trailed behind.

  By now, Jayden was so stiff with cold that it was hard to move, but he forced each step, hoping it would take him closer to safety. And warmth. He swore he could feel the chill all the way to his bones. His cheeks began to prickle and itch, his chest ached with every breath.

  They had only walked for about ten minutes when he noticed Maggie’s shoulders were shaking. She was shivering badly, and had her arms wrapped around her sides. He watched as her steps grew unsteady and wobbly.

  “Maggie! Are you okay?” he asked. He hurried a few steps to catch up to her.

  She looked dazed. “Yeth.” Then she mumbled something else, but her voice trembled and her speech was too slurred to make out.

  Jayden knew she most definitely wasn’t okay.

  “Stop!” Jayden called out to Connor. “Hey, hold up a minute!”

  “What?” Connor turned back toward Jayden and Maggie. His face was twisted in frustration. Jayden guessed he didn’t want their mission interrupted when it was so important.

  “There’s something wrong with Maggie,” Jayden told him.

  “N-n-n-no. N-n-n-not,” Maggie said through chattering teeth. “I’m-m-m ok-k-k-kay. Let’s-s-s g-g-go.”

  Connor gasped. “Maggie! Your lips … they’re blue! And you’re shivering like crazy!”

  “We need to get her warm and find something to shelter her from the wind. Now. She looks like she might be getting hypothermia,” Jayden said, trying to make his voice as firm as possible. He’d put up a fight this time if he had to. No way would he let them travel on. He remembered the hypothermia scene in his book, and it looked like Maggie had all of the same symptoms. “She’s too cold! And she’s losing heat faster than her body can produce it.”
He shook his head. “Trust me. It’s dangerous!”

  “Okay. But where on earth are we going to find shelter out here?” By now Connor had wrapped an arm around his sister protectively and rubbed her shoulders to help warm her.

  “I’m s-s-s-sor-r-r-ry.” Maggie struggled to get the words out. “It’s-s-s-s all my fault. We wil-l-l-l be s-s-s-stuck out here.”

  “Hush,” Jayden said, cutting her off. “It’s only a matter of time before Connor and I have symptoms just like yours. It’s getting colder out here by the minute.” The snowfall had lightened enough so that in the distance he could make out a rocky hillside. Snow had begun to drift and pile along the outcropping. “Maybe we can dig out a hole along those rocky crags over there. It looks like it’s only about five minutes away.”

  This time he got no argument. Jayden was relieved. If he or Connor came down with hypothermia, too, there was no way they’d survive the night. Maggie hadn’t shown any severe symptoms yet — like confusion, hallucinations, or acting irrationally. But he knew if they wandered around hopelessly lost and crazed, it would not end well. If they could stay warm until morning, perhaps the weather would be better for their hike to get help. Plus they’d be able to see the sun rise so they could get a sense of which direction to go.

  With Maggie in the middle, and the boys hovering on either side of her to keep the wind and cold at bay, the group made their way through the woods to the rocky hillside.

  When they came within feet of the area, Connor grew excited. “Hey, look, isn’t that a cave?”

  Jayden spotted the darkened hole in the hillside. They wouldn’t have to dig a tunnel through snow to make shelter. A safe place out of the wind and snow was right there waiting for them!

  “It’s a cave! It is!” Jayden could hardly believe their good fortune. The cave looked to be about four feet high and about the same wide, but the wind had created a snowdrift near the entrance that would need to be cleared. He could probably kick a path through it for them in a matter of minutes. “Hold on to Maggie,” Jayden told Connor, “while I get the snow out of the way.”

  Though he felt stiff and achy, the excitement of knowing something Maggie and Connor didn’t spurred him on. He had the book of matches in his pocket! Soon they’d be sitting near a fire. Thank goodness he thought to bring them after all! He quickly set to work shoving aside about two feet of drifted snow.

  Once done, he stooped over and made his way inside the cave, waving for Connor and Maggie to follow him. It was dim inside, but it looked plenty deep enough for the three of them to cozy up. He was in such a hurry to get Maggie inside that he didn’t notice the dip in the ground until it was too late.

  As he fell, he reached out with his gloved hands to catch himself. But the landing wasn’t as hard as he’d expected. In fact, it was kind of soft. And surprisingly warm. His face brushed up against something furry, and he froze in shock.

  The soft lump he landed on stirred.

  Jayden’s first instinct was to scream and run. It took all the strength he could muster to remain still. A scene from a book he’d read nearly a year ago came flooding back to him. A boy had accompanied his father, a zoologist, on a trip to study caribou in the Alaskan wilderness. The boy wandered off and eventually came upon an angry mama bear. He knew not to run and it saved his life. There is no way to outrun a bear. They’re faster, hands down. And running makes the bear think you’re prey.

  Slowly and quietly, Jayden eased his way up to his feet. He didn’t want to rouse the bear. With luck it would drift back into its winter slumber, totally unaware that its space had been invaded.

  “Holy cow!” Connor gasped from behind when he noticed the large creature inhabiting the cave. “Run!” He spun around and reached for his sister’s hand so he could drag her along in his attempt to escape.

  Jayden grabbed Connor by the arm, twisting him back before he could flee. “Don’t!” He looked at Connor as gravely as possible and spoke in a low, soft voice. “He’ll go after you and he’ll win.”

  Just then, the bear emitted a low grumbling moan and lumbered to its feet, sniffing the air and pawing the ground. Connor looked unsure about the advice Jayden had just given him, but did as he was told.

  “Back away slowly,” Jayden whispered. “And whatever you do, don’t look him in the eye.”

  Maggie seemed awestruck by the majestic beast. She took a staggering step forward toward the bear. She doesn’t know any better, Jayden thought. The hypothermia is getting to her. She’s totally out of it.

  Connor, realizing his sister was not to be trusted in her current state, scooped her up into his arms and slowly began to inch backward. Jayden followed as quietly as he could. He kept his eyes firmly on the ground. Slowly but surely the three kids made their way out of the cave.

  At first it appeared the bear might remain inside. But then it, too, cautiously emerged from the cave and approached them. Fear poured through Jayden. He stared at the huge clawed paws that padded the snow-covered ground. He tried not to think of the damage they could do.

  “I think we should play dead,” Connor whispered, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

  Jayden remembered that the boy from his book had tried that, and the bear had left him alone. But later, the boy’s father had told him how lucky he was that it was a grizzly bear he’d met. That if it had been a hungry black bear going after him, he wouldn’t have survived using that trick. And Jayden knew that grizzlies didn’t live in Michigan. This one had to be a black bear. And if it decided it was hungry, they’d just make things easier for it by playing dead.

  “No. Keep going. Trust me,” Jayden murmured back.

  The snow was deep enough to make walking backward difficult. Jayden dared a direct peek at the bear. The beast had come to a stop, and though his body remained still, he swung his head back and forth anxiously as if trying to decide what to do.

  When they were about sixty feet away from the bear, Jayden breathed a sigh of relief and turned toward Maggie and Connor. “I think we’re in the clear,” he told them.

  But he’d spoken too soon. The bear snorted. It pounded the ground. Jayden looked back just in time to catch a sudden flash of black.

  The bear was charging right at them.

  “Watch out!” Connor dropped to the ground and covered Maggie with his body in a desperate attempt to protect her.

  Jayden stepped in front of them. He stretched his arms over his head, waving them frantically so he’d appear as large and ferocious as possible. He shouted, “Go away! Get out of here!” The words formed white puffs in the frigid air. He knew their only hope was to call the bear’s bluff. If it thought they were fiercer and meaner, maybe Jayden could scare it off. But if the bear wasn’t bluffing …

  The bear came, chuffing and huffing, bounding straight for him.

  Jayden’s muscles tensed. He braced himself for what was to come. “Go away!” he roared one last time.

  And just as quickly as it had taken off, the bear abruptly stopped. It stared at Jayden a moment, clicking its jaws nervously, then turned away and ambled back to the safety of its cave.

  Once the bear had disappeared inside, a wave of immense relief made Jayden feel like slumping to the ground next to Connor and Maggie. But he collected himself and gently bent over the two of them instead. “It’s okay, now,” he said. “I scared it off. It didn’t mean us any harm. It just felt threatened, that’s all.”

  Connor sat up and looked around. “Is it really gone?” he asked. But Jayden didn’t answer. Maggie still lay on the ground. She was shivering and breathing fast. She looked ghostly.

  All of a sudden neither boy was worried about the bear anymore.

  Connor stood, picked her up, and held her close. “We need to get her warm. Somehow, someway we need to get her warm.”

  Jayden glanced around. The snow was still coming down, and now that the panic over being mauled had faded, he was keenly aware of how cold it was. To his right, he noticed several enormous boulde
rs leaning against one another about a quarter of a mile away. It looked like there was a little sheltered space below where they met. “Over there!” he pointed. “Can you carry her there?”

  Maggie lifted her head from her brother’s shoulder. “I c-c-can walk,” she said.

  “We can get there quicker if I carry you,” Connor said firmly.

  For once, she didn’t argue. And it turned out Connor was right. Maggie had the tiny frame of a gymnast and Connor had the solid build of a wrestler. In fact, Jayden had a hard time keeping up with Connor’s quick, sure steps.

  By the time they reached the boulders, Jayden himself had begun to shake from the cold. He did his best to ignore it and made quick work of scooping and kicking snow from the triangle-shaped tunnel that the boulders created. Once cleared, Connor set Maggie down inside the makeshift shelter and huddled close to her.

  “I have matches, but they’re no good without tinder,” Jayden said. His first foster family, the elderly couple, often built bonfires on summer evenings, and Jayden knew a bit about what it took to get a fire going. He stood outside the tunnel and looked around.

  “You’ve got matches?” Connor’s jaw dropped. “Where’d you get them?”

  “I grabbed them from the first aid kit before we left your dad and Rory.” Jayden felt useful. It was a good feeling. Actually, a great one. Connor looked at him with such admiration that even though his cheeks felt like ice cubes, he wondered if he was blushing.

  “Nice work, bro! Let’s get a fire going and warm Maggie up.” Connor smiled.

  “Yeah, but like I said, first I’ve got to find something dry we can light. Any idea what I could use?”

  “What about that cluster of pine trees over there.” Connor peeked out and gestured. “When we come up here in the fall, there’s usually a carpet of dry dead needles littering the ground.”