“I don’t’ want to bring you out in this if there isn’t anyone there. If I do get stuck on the way, I don’t want you out there again. You’ve been through enough adventure, don’t you think?”
* * *
Just walking out to the truck made Nash thankful he made Harper stay behind. She was going to have to venture out eventually, but at least he could test how bad the road was with the melting snow.
He climbed into the truck and gunned the engine. The cab was already warm from the sun shining on it, something that he welcomed because it meant he didn't have to spend time to warm the engine to get heat. He’d take it slow until he reached the point where the Avalanche landed on the road. From his estimation, the road was covered for about a quarter of a mile and would make it difficult for anyone to plow them out. But if he managed to get someone’s attention, at least they’d know both he and Harper were alive.
Traveling down the road even in four-wheel drive proved to be challenging. Nash focused on keeping the tires in the ruts the snowmobile left, the path that he and Harper had walked up after the avalanche had hit. He needed to keep his eyes on the road to keep from swerving off the side. The risk of another avalanche was still high and it would be for a few days as the accumulation from the storm started to melt and compact.
As he approached the big wall of snow that had fallen over the road and down the embankment where he’d turned and tried to outrun the avalanche, Nash rolled down his window and listened. And then he smiled. Whoever Harper had heard from the cabin was still there.
He approached the big wall snow and stopped the truck, killing the engine. Then he beeped the horn three times. He waited a few seconds and then beeped again in the hopes that someone had heard him the first time and would give him a signal that he’d been heard.
He heard the sound of a long deep horn blow, and he chuckled. They had heard him.
He quickly climbed out of the truck and cupped his hands to his mouth. “Hello there. Can you hear me?”
“I hear you,” someone called back. They were still a distance away, but closer than Nash had expected. They must have been working on the road all morning and Harper had just heard them.
“I'm Nash Webber,” he called out. “I'm renting the cabin at the top of the mountain.”
“Daphne Madison's place?” the person asked. He sounded a little closer. Nash looked up and squinted his eyes to see if he could figure out where he was coming from.
“That's the one. I have her granddaughter staying at the cabin with me.”
Somebody let out a whistle. “Now that's fantastic news to hear. We were worried about Harper.”
So was he.
“She rolled her car a few days ago at the beginning of the storm. I manage to get her out of the car. It's buried somewhere down the embankment beneath all this snow.”
“We found it. We tried her phone and got worried when no one answered.”
“It got smashed in the accident along with my snowmobile that also had my radio. We planned on contacting someone as soon as the storm let up but we couldn’t get a signal.”
“I see your truck. I just don't see you,” the man said.
Nash looked up at the big pile of snow in front of him. Then he turned back to his truck which was fifteen or twenty yards behind him. He sprinted back to the truck and then turned back to look at the top of the snow mound.
“There you are,” the man said.
Nash smiled. “What’s your name?”
“Officer Zeb Lincoln. I work with Harper. Everyone has been real worried about her, especially her grandmother.
Nash couldn't be sure but it looked as if Zeb was holding onto something. Nash took a few more steps back and realized whoever had come up the road had a tractor and the officer was now standing inside the bucket looking over the big mound of snow between them. That explained how they’d been able to clear the road so quickly.
“I'm sure glad you found us, Officer,” Nash said.
“Have you met Mrs. Madison?” Zeb asked.
Nash shook his head. “Just her granddaughter.”
“Well, Harper is a pretty persistent woman, just like her grandmother. In fact, I think her grandmother might be a little bit more so because she's been calling the station every hour on the hour to make sure someone went up to rescue her Harper. She’s going to be thrilled to know we found her.”
“I guess feistiness runs in the family.”
“That's for sure. How's Harper doing? Was she hurt in the accident? I know that's the first question Mrs. Madison will ask when I call into the station.”
“Bruised from her tumble down the side of the mountain. But she's doing okay, especially after yesterday.”
“Wait, you weren’t caught in this, were you?”
“I'm afraid so. We were lucky. My snowmobile wasn't. I’ll let Harper tell you all about it.”
The man whistled. “I’ll call Mia. She's a paramedic on duty at the fire station. She can check you both over when we bring Harper home.”
“I’m fine. Really. Harper probably should have someone take a look at her. I'm guessing you know she probably won't.”
“She will if Chief Lucas tells her to.” Zeb laughed. “But only because he'll insist on her being checked over before she can return to work. I’m sure glad she’s okay.”
“Harper has been really worried about her grandmother,” he called out.
“You tell her Mrs. Madison has been very well taken care of,” Zeb said with a chuckle. “I do believe that just about everyone at the police station has checked in on her. She even spent a few nights at Lucy Perini’s house. Sweet is a neighborly town.
