Winter Kill

The fire had burned down to embers but was still giving off a pleasing warmth when Fiona got out of her blankets and came over to the rock near the entrance where Frank was sitting. He moved over to give her some room, and she sat down beside him.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked her quietly.

“We’re almost there, Frank,” she whispered. “We’ve almost made it.”

He nodded. “I know. Sort of hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“You don’t really think anything else could possibly go wrong when we’re this close, do you?”

“I wouldn’t go saying that. You’ll jinx us.”

She looked worried, so he chuckled and went on. “No, I’m just joshing you. I think we’ll be fine.”

“Then…I have a proposition for you.”

His smile went away. “You’re not talking again about me being your partner, are you? I told you, I’m not interested in being in the mail-order bride business.”

“After everything that’s happened on this trip, I’m not sure I am, either,” Fiona said. “But whatever happens in the future, we’re going to be stuck in Whitehorse for the next few months, Frank. We might as well enjoy them… and while we’re at it, maybe we could think of some new business venture that would interest you.”

The offer was tempting in a way, but as Frank sat there in silence for a moment, he knew his heart wouldn’t be in it. Despite what had happened between them in Seattle, Frank knew that he and Fiona Devereaux weren’t meant to be together, even for a winter in Whitehorse. And he wasn’t going to lead Fiona on and allow her to think anything different.

“That’s mighty nice of you,” he said, “but I don’t reckon it’d work out.”

Her face hardened in the faint glow from the fire. “You’re sure about that?” she said.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Is it because of Meg? I saw you kissing her that night, you know. Blast it, Frank, she’s not that much younger than I am.”

He shook his head, remembering the night Meg had kissed him. “No, Meg’s got nothing to do with it. She’s got a husband waiting for her, remember?”

“Yes, of course,” Fiona said, her voice flat. “All right. I understand. I won’t bother you again.” She stood up. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Frank…even if it was just out of a sense of duty.”

“That’s not—” he began, but she turned and walked back to her bedroll, not letting him finish.

Just as well, he thought. There was nothing he could tell her that she would want to hear.

Chapter 31

Salty’s worries proved to be well founded. The storm piled so much snow in front of the cave’s entrance that by the next morning it was completely blocked by the white stuff.

Frank and Salty stood there looking at it for a few moments before Salty said, “Well, I reckon somebody’s gonna have to burrow out through there. You feel like bein’ a mole, Frank?”

Conway stepped up behind them. “Let me do it,” he said. “I’m the biggest. I can make a good tunnel for us.”

Frank turned toward him. “Are you sure you want to risk it, Pete? The tunnel could collapse on you.”

“Well, you’ll have a rope tied to me, right? Just pull me back out, and I’ll try again.”

Frank thought it might not be that simple, but Conway had a point about being the largest member of the group. He nodded and said, “All right, we’ll give it a try. I’ll get my rope.”

Everyone gathered around as Conway got ready to try to dig out. Jessica threw her arms around him in a hug that contained a hint of desperation. “Don’t let anything happen to you,” she told him as she embraced him.

Conway patted her awkwardly on the back. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

He started the tunnel by digging a hole out as far as he could reach without leaving the cave. Then he stretched out on his belly, and Frank tied the rope around both his ankles, so they could pull him straight out of the tunnel if they needed to. Then Conway looked back over his shoulder, grinned at them for a second, and started using his mittened hands to shovel snow behind him as he crawled forward. He packed it on both sides as best he could, to strengthen the walls of the tunnel.

It was slow going, and it took a long time before Conway’s feet and legs disappeared completely into the tunnel. Salty had warned him not to shout back to them unless it was an emergency, because loud noises could cause the snow to fall, collapsing the tunnel. So a tense silence filled the cave as minutes stretched out into an hour or more since Conway had started digging out.

Frank knelt by the entrance to the tunnel, letting the rope slide through his hands. They had worked out signals before Conway went into the hole. Two tugs meant they should pull him back as quickly as they could. Three meant that he had made it through the drift safely.

He didn’t really need to feel the three tugs that came on the rope, though. A shaft of light shot through the tunnel, and Frank knew that Conway had reached the outside world. A moment later he felt the rope go slack and pulled it back through.

“Who’s next?” he asked.

“I’ll go,” Jessica said.