| |
KENNEDY WOULD HAVE never guessed she could walk so fast given how exhausted and cold she was. Her lungs stung from panting, but all that exertion paid off. After rounding a corner, the Glenn Highway came into view.
“Thank you, God,” Willow breathed.
Kennedy’s sentiments exactly.
“We’ve got to find some place to warm Rylee up.” Willow surged ahead.
Kennedy strained to keep up.
“Listen!” Willow called behind her. “There’s a car coming. If we hurry, we’ll make it.”
Kennedy couldn’t run. It wasn’t possible. Please God, she prayed, please tell the car to stop.
“Hey!” Willow shouted at the passing vehicle. “Hey! Slow down. Wait!”
She reached the edge of the road as the sound died away. The car was gone before they’d even spotted it.
“Gobstoppers,” Willow exclaimed.
Usually, Kennedy laughed at her roommate’s creative choice in exclamations, but there was nothing humorous in this situation.
“Just a few seconds too late.” Willow shook her head. “I’ve got to sit down.”
Kennedy didn’t argue. The girls plopped onto a snow drift on the side of the highway.
“Guess we should make another fire,” Willow finally declared. “I swear I don’t even have the energy. That car ...”
Kennedy let out her breath. She was still thinking about the speeding vehicle, too, their one chance of rescue.
“We can’t stay here very long,” Willow said. “It’s too cold, and there’s no telling when anyone else will make their way down here. We could go back down toward where we totaled the car, try to run the heater some, or we go the opposite direction and try to make our way to Eureka.”
“How far away is that lodge they were talking about?” Kennedy asked. The idea of an actual heated room to sit down in, or a bed with blankets to pile on top of her, was almost too luxurious to fathom.
“From here? About fifteen miles. There’s no way we’d get there by sundown, but maybe we’ll run into someone on the way. Then again there’s nothing to stop for between here and Eureka. Any cars coming or going that direction will come by here first anyway.”
“So we wait?” Kennedy asked.
Willow frowned and felt Rylee’s cheek. “We can’t just sit here. I say we make a fire, get as warm as we can, then we go to where we crashed the car and pray the heater’s working. I hate to say it, but that’s probably our only option right now.”
“Maybe someone else will come down this way,” Kennedy added.
“You can always hope.” Willow stood up. “All right. Can you hold her while I get another fire started? Just keep her as close to you as you can. And turn this way so your back’s to the breeze. I’m not sure ...” She didn’t finish her sentence. When Kennedy looked at Rylee’s listless face, she was able to guess what Willow was thinking.
“A fire would be really good,” Kennedy agreed.
Willow’s voice fell flat. “It’s our only hope.