“That’s an engine,” Max said, getting up and inclining his
bald head. “Where’s it coming from?”
“The basement?” Renie offered.
“I don’t think so,” Judith said, straining to hear. “It seems
to be coming from outside.”
The sound grew fainter. Max jumped off the sofa. “Come
on! We’re going upstairs! Maybe we can see something from
the second-floor windows!”
They raced from the elevator to Max’s room, which was
closer than the cousins’. But once inside, they could see
nothing. It was dark, and the snow, which now consisted of
big, wet flakes, obliterated the landscape.
“Damn!” Max tugged the window open and leaned out.
“Listen!”
Judith and Renie practically fell over each other trying to
get close to the open window. Sure enough, they heard the
sound again.
“An engine, a motor,” Judith breathed.
“Look!” Renie was halfway over the sill, snow soaking her
sweatshirt. “A light!”
Judith and Max barely glimpsed the faint amber glow before it disappeared. The sound died away, too. The trio
continued to watch and listen. Close to five minutes passed
before anyone spoke.
“Damn!” Max swore again. “I don’t get it.” He gestured in
the direction where they’d seen the light, then closed the
window with a rattling bang.
Judith recalled where she and Renie had seen the light the
previous night. Their room was down the hall from Max’s,
at the end of the corridor. “We saw a light on this
side of the lodge last night,” said Judith. “Is there a road in
that direction?”
Max looked thoughtful. “I think so, to the caretaker’s place.
But it’s got to be impassable. The only way you could get
through is with a snowmobile. They can go in just about
any conditions.”
“You wouldn’t need a road,” Renie said, more to herself
than the others.
“That’s right,” Max agreed. “If there’d been one here in
the lodge, we could have gotten out by now.”
Judith was wearing a curious expression. “There are skis
and all sorts of other winter sports equipment in the basement. I assume they’re rentals. Why isn’t there a snow-mobile?”
Max shrugged. “Liability, maybe. They can be dangerous
if you don’t know how to handle them. Some models go up
to a hundred and ten miles per hour.”
Judith took one last look out the window. All she could
see were the big, white flakes, falling softly onto the drifted
snow. It was very quiet.
