Millie counted on her fingers. “Eleven. Well, ten, now that Marcus left.”
“I’ll just need the names so I can keep track of everyone.”
“I can write them down,” Heather offered.
“Just you two ladies here?”
“No,” Heather responded. “Altar is here as well.”
“I was worried about her,” Mr. Talley said. “Told her not to leave, but she insisted.”
“She’s safe here,” Millie said.
“I’m glad she’s safe.”
“We need to get going, Sheriff.” Mr. McFarland pointed towards the church. “We need to get the path done over there.”
“Are you going to go to the carriage house?” Heather asked.
“Wasn’t going to.” The sheriff scratched his head. “Did you need to get there?”
Heather’s eyes ran over the bright terrain. She spied the top of her buggy peeking from the snow. “My horse is in there. My wagon is parked to the side. I don’t think I’ll be seeing that anytime soon.”
“We’ll cut a path to the door then,” Mr. McFarland said, turning to walk back down the cleared path.
Heather ran inside to grab her jacket and shawl. Altar had just finished stuffing the last of her yarn and needles in her bag and went to grab her jacket.
“Can we get out?” Altar asked.
Heather nodded. “The snow along the building is as tall as I am, but it is lower on the actual lawn. Mr. Applebee, Mr. Talley, and Mr. McFarland managed to dig a path. It looks like a tunnel. Will you be able to get back home, Altar?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll see when we get out there.”
Millie buttoned the last button on her jacket and clapped her hands. “Children grab your lunch pails. No need to get your books today. Let’s form a line and we’ll get you back to your houses.”
The children stood in line from youngest to oldest. Mary Rose was in the front and Jenny at the rear.
Altar and Heather went down the stairs and walked to the end of the schoolyard. Millie and the children followed right behind.
They didn’t stay in line exceptionally long. As soon as they hit the yard, all the pails were dropped, and the children began to scatter in the snow. They made snowballs and started tossing them at each other.
One hit Heather in the leg. She rubbed the spot through her skirt. That hurt! It was more of an ice ball instead of a snowball.
“Children, you can play later. Let’s get you home.” Millie held out her arms, guiding her charges to retrieve their lunch pails and join Heather at the edge of the yard.
When they reached the corner of the road, Heather turned to see the path going in front of the buildings. She could see where the men and women had cleared openings to their doors. The extra snow it appeared, was just piled into the street or in the alley ways. The snow in the park was still several feet deep and the wind created hills of snow, causing the park to look like a small mountain range.
Millie came around the corner and gasped as she saw a huge pile of snow in the middle of the street. “That is going to take forever to melt.” She turned and called to the sheriff. “Do you know how far we can get through town?”
Sheriff Applebee stopped shoveling. “We cleared down to Stagecoach road and up to the jail. Haven’t made it down Grand Platte Road yet. Those residents have probably started clearing it. It has melted quite a bit. Might be difficult to walk through, but you should be able to get where you need to.
“What about Chimney Rock Ranch Road?”
Heather watched the sheriff scratch the back of his neck. “Not yet. We just need to take care of the town.”
A feeling of dread bubbled up in Heather’s belly. Both she and Millie lived out on Chimney Rock Ranch Road. If the snow was this high in town, she wondered how tall it would be outside of town. And she wondered about the horses and cows in the surrounding fields.
She looked back towards the river. She could see the water moving near the far side of the river. On the other side she saw the tops of the trees but couldn’t see any of the bottoms. The snow was just as bad over there.
Wiping a tear from her cheek she prayed her husband and the rest of the men weren’t stuck in the deep snow.
Millie cleared her throat. “Most of it is probably drifts.” She waited until Heather nodded. “Which way are you going?” she asked.
Heather looked both ways. “I guess we can’t go down that way,” she said, pointing towards her ranch with her medicine bag. “You head down with the children and let me get my horse.”
“I’m going to head home if you don’t mind,” Altar said.
“You rest up, Altar. I’ll be by in a few days to check on you.”
Altar nodded and started towards the center of town.
“Are you going with us, Mrs. Barnes?”
“I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”
Cecily switched Miss Poppet to her other arm and waved to Heather as Millie and the children walked on the icy path towards the residence area.
Chapter Seven
Heather watched as the men continued to clear a path to the carriage house.
It was difficult to believe that just yesterday it was so cold that she couldn’t even go on the back steps of the schoolhouse.
Millie took the children to their homes as Heather waited for the men to clear the path to the carriage house.
“I wonder if everyone ended up someplace strange when the storm hit,” Heather mused. “It came in so fast. I’ve never felt a wind like that.”
“Not
