“Uh, um, I don’t think so. This, Spencer, is a blizzard in Montana.”
“Should we try to book it out of here?
She gawked at me like I was daft.
“So, we’re stuck here then,” I concluded.
“Uh, that’s a big yes.”
“For how long?”
Her eyes widened as if she just realized something. “Um, awhile,” she said vaguely. “Excuse me,” she said, pulling her cell from her back pocket.
I stayed planted by the door with the little glass windows and watched the white attack every inch of Yellow Creek with Eugie at my feet.
“Are we going to be here all night, boy?” I asked him, to which he licked my hand.
“I take that as a yes then.”
“Hey,” she spoke into her phone, “yeah. Yeah, I know, Ethan.” She blew at her bangs. “Let me talk to Pop.” There was a brief pause. “Hey, yup. No, I didn’t see it coming. We were in the old schoolhouse waiting for Faye’s sister Helen.” Another pause. “I know. We’re not going anywhere.” She looked around. “It still has power, but we’ll start rummaging for provisions here in a second, just in case. Uh-huh. Okay, yup, tell her I said I loved her too. Yeah, sure.” A longer pause. “I know, Ethan. I know.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re just going to have to trust me then, Ethan, all right? Okay, I will. Love you too. Bye.”
She hung up then rounded the foyer. “Got anything in your truck worth retrieving?”
I thought about it. “Uh, I’ve got a new comforter Bridge just bought. Also, there’s an emergency kit that came with the truck. I think there’s a bag of peanut M&M’s.”
“You had me at M&M’s,” she said, making me smile.
“Stay here,” I said and wedged myself through the door.
Eugie tried to follow, but Cricket held him back.
A blast of blistering cold permeated me to my bones within a second. My body began to shiver, and I had to fight the strong, chilling wind the five feet to the truck. I hit the key lock in my pocket and jumped inside.
“Oh. My. God.” I shivered.
I didn’t want to waste any time, so I found an old trash bag that had laundry in it and tossed the clothes inside and started tossing anything I thought we could use inside, including the comforter, the emergency kit and the M&M’s. I also found a lighter, an old metal flashlight that belonged to Jonah, and a bag of candy bars hidden underneath the passenger seat so frozen they could break a window. No doubt put there by Bridge because her doctor told her to start watching her carbs.
I ran as fast as I could back into the school with my loot. Cricket had pushed the door open as far as she could, and I wedged myself through with the bag.
Once inside, I jumped up and down and shouted, “Hooo!” making Cricket howl with laughter.
“Cold, city boy?”
I returned her earlier look. “Um, excuse me? But you’re skinny ass would be a solid Popsicle five feet outside this door.”
“Hey! I’ve got some insulation, buddy.”
“Oh yeah, Skeletor, sure you do.”
Her jaw clenched. “Come on. We have to search the building in case the electricity goes out.”
I followed her, reveling in my Skeletor reference because
A) Masters of the Universe rocks
B) It got under Cricket’s skin.
The schoolhouse wasn’t very big, hence the reason it was called the “old” schoolhouse. Basically, it was three rooms total, a stage area that probably doubled as the cafeteria and two classrooms.