Blizzard: Colorado, 1886 Read Online Free PDF

back to the road, avoiding the place where the cat had been. If he hurried, he was pretty sure he could get to Cleave’s store before dark. If Mr. Cleave wouldn’t put him up for the night, he’d go to the Elkhorn; there’d be plenty of room now in the off-season. Either way, he wanted to be headed down to the Lyons train station first thing in the morning.
    Hadyn frowned, still staring into the trees. Uncle Joseph and Aunt Fiona might be angry with him for leaving Maggie by herself, but it wasn’t his fault. He had offered to let her come with him. Hadyn took a step, then another—and then he stopped. He looked around. The aspen trees, the rocks, the pines went on forever in every direction. He blinked. He had absolutely no idea which way to start walking.
    The wind was rising. Hands shaking, Hadyn opened his bag and pulled out a heavy woolenshirt. He took off his coat and buttoned the shirt over the one he already wore. As he put his coat back on, he tried to calm down. He wasn’t lost. Not really. He wasn’t that far from the road.
    He looked at the sky. The clouds were thickening.
    He started off, following his tracks across the clean snow. But at the top of the next ridge, the snow thinned and the patches of bare ground made it hard, then impossible, to tell which way he had come. Squinting, Hadyn thought he could see the road through the next stand of trees. He veered toward it, but when he got there, he found only a small meadow lined with dark pines.
    For hours, Hadyn kept walking, scanning the land in front of him for any sign of the road, a ranch house—anything but the endless carpet of white. The wind got stronger, lifting little sprays of snow, piercing his coat.
    As darkness fell, Hadyn came upon a field of broken rock. He found a crevice that could shelter him from the worst of the wind and hunkered down into it. At first, he felt a little warmer, but then the chill of the night began to work its way through his clothes. He opened his bag and put on two more shirts, thenpulled his coat back on. He used the rest of his clothing to make an uncomfortable nest between the jagged rocks. With chattering teeth he ate the rest of the walnuts, quieting his hunger enough to feel his exhaustion.
    As Hadyn crouched, listening to the howl of wind, he shuddered with cold and fear. He could feel the nearby forest, darker than the night. The icy fingers of the wind scrabbled over the rocks, trying to find him.

Chapter Five
    When Maggie woke, the sun was high in the morning sky. It took her a few seconds to figure out why her father had not wakened her as he always did—to recall why her heart felt hollow and strange. Once she remembered everything that had happened, she rose and hurried into her work clothes. Then she lit the coal oil lantern with a long wooden match, turning the wick down so it wouldn’t smoke.
    The cabin was ice cold. Maggie could see her breath as she pulled on her socks and shoes. She had banked the fire carefully the night before, but even so, there were only a few small coals still glowing beneath the ashes.
    Shivering, she built up the fire again and stoodnext to it. She spread her hands close to the flames, trying to warm them, then turned to fight the chill that seeped through her clothes. Only after she had turned back and forth five or six times did she venture to the front door and look out.
    The wind was blowing, but not too fiercely. Maggie could see snowflakes streaking toward the ground. She went back inside. She found some day-old biscuits in the cupboard and put one of them and some cold beans on a plate. Then she carried the coffeepot in to the hearth and set it close to the flames. She warmed herself again. When she got back from chores, the coffee would still be hot. She had no time for a pleasant breakfast now. She wolfed her biscuits and most of her beans, then pulled on her hat and coat.
    Out in the barn, Maggie checked on the cow and calf.