Leah Sanders was starting to worry.
When she’d left home earlier today, packing up her entire life into her ancient Honda, it had been a bright, sunny November day. She’d planned on driving all afternoon and evening, and getting through the mountains to reach her mother’s place, halfway across Montana, by nine or ten PM.
But now it looked like winter had hit early. As Leah had driven further into the mountains, snow started to swirl down from the sky. Around four-thirty PM, night fell like someone had dropped it on her head. Thunk. It was dark.
And not just dark, but snowy and windy. Driving became more and more difficult, and she slowed down to a crawl. When she’d pulled over to look at her phone, there was no reception and no Internet, so she couldn’t check the weather reports or try to find a place to stop. She hadn’t seen another car, let alone a gas station or other building, for more than an hour.
At least Emily had finally fallen asleep in her car seat.
Leah wished to God she’d chosen a better day to make this trip, but she hadn’t had much of an option. Her landlord had shown up at her door yesterday and told her that no, he couldn’t give her another extension on her rent. She had to go, or he’d have her evicted.
Leah had bitten back a furious reply, smiled, and told him she’d be out as soon as possible. She’d gone inside and started packing, and flatly refused to cry about it. This was her life now, and she had to deal with it.
Ten months ago, Leah had been happy. She’d had a fiancé and beautiful new baby, and she’d been cheerfully planning her future. She’d stay home with Emily for several months while Rob worked, plan their wedding, and when she was ready, she’d go back to work part-time at the nursery/landscaping business in their little town. They’d have a simple wedding with just a few people, but because it was the two of them, it would be the best wedding she could hope for.
All that had changed one month after Emily was born. Rob had left her without any warning, disappearing one day and never coming back. Suddenly Leah was a single mom with no job, no plans for the future, and hardly any savings.
Leah had tried. She’d worked hard at anything she could find to generate income. She’d shamelessly taken advantage of some of the older ladies in town who would agree to watch Emily for a couple of hours for free. She’d hired herself out as a gardener, and worked with Emily strapped to her back.
But it just hadn’t been enough. As summer turned to fall and gardening jobs fell away, slowly, her money had run out.
So now, she was taking her last option: going to stay with her mom.
Leah wasn’t looking forward to living with her mother, especially since her mom’s tiny place was going to be a squeeze for two people, let alone two people and a baby. Also, her mom hadn’t made it a secret that she thought Leah was stupid for getting pregnant. Or that Leah and Emily would be a burden that she didn’t much want.
But without rent to pay, Leah could start building up some savings again, and someday they could move out.
And Emily was too young to remember anything. That was the real blessing. Leah could handle staying with her mom, even if they got into fights, even if it was hard. Emily was just a baby, and what she needed most was a roof over her head and food to eat. Leah would endure anything to make that possible.
So Leah had spent the absolute last of her money on gas and food for the trip, loaded up her car with everything that could fit in it, strapped Emily into her car seat, and driven off.
And then it had started to snow. And then it had gotten dark. And now her car was starting to make alarming noises as she struggled up the steep inclines of the mountain roads.
And then, as she pressed on the gas to get over a particularly steep ridge, the engine stuttered and died.
Leah watched in horror as the car coasted to a stop just at the top of the ridge...then started to skid backwards. She frantically hit the brakes, but the road was too slippery.
Oh, God, Emily. They were skidding back down the hill, and Emily shrieked. Leah yanked on the steering wheel—was there any way she could direct the car so that Emily was safer? Turning the wheel seemed to have no effect at all. Everything was a blur of snow and darkness and skidding movement.
The sudden stop threw her back in her seat and made her heart leap into her mouth. Glass shattered.
Leah was out of her seatbelt and frantically twisting back to see the baby before the car had entirely stopped. If anything had happened to her—if she’d been cut by the glass, or hurt by the impact—
Emily was crying, a high-pitched, terrified shriek, but when Leah crawled back between the seats, she was still securely strapped in. There was no blood, no obvious broken bones. The glass that had shattered was on the opposite side. A tree branch had come straight through the window, but it had stopped over a foot from the car seat.
Thank God. Thank God.
Leah sagged in relief, clutching the driver’s seat to stay upright. “Hey, baby,” she said in her calmest voice. “That was kind of a bump, huh? Everything’s fine, though. We’re okay.”
She climbed into the backseat—avoiding the branch and the shards of glass—and unstrapped Emily so that she could make absolutely sure that she wasn’t hurt.
Nothing seemed to be wrong, though. Her arms and legs all bent normally without any trouble, and as Leah held her, she slowly quieted down.
“It’s okay,” Leah told her. “Everything’s okay. We’re both fine, isn’t that a miracle?” Cold wind was coming through the broken window, so Leah grabbed a blanket to bundle her up. “There, isn’t that better?”
She held Emily close, kissing her forehead. She was okay. They were both okay. Everything was fine.
But as Leah looked around, crouched awkwardly in the foot well of her backseat, the situation started to sink in.
Her engine was dead. She didn’t have any car repair skills. She wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to figure out what was wrong, let alone fixing it.
She was in the middle of nowhere, far away from any towns. She hadn’t seen a gas station in miles and miles. She hadn’t even seen another car.
It was cold and dark and snowy.
Her car window was broken, and the air inside the car was getting colder by the minute.
Fear seized Leah’s heart. She looked down at Emily, resting peacefully against her chest.
If we don’t get help soon, we’re going to die out here.
***
Jeff Hart was feeling restless.
His shift out in the park was over, and it had been a long, hard day, what with the unexpected snowfall. The rangers had been out and about constantly, surveying the area for any stranded hikers or stuck cars. He’d work
ed his butt off, alongside his boss, Cal, and the new hire, Grey.
Grey had only started a couple of months ago, but it had been immediately clear that he had more ranger experience than most of the younger guys. But he wasn’t a jerk about it—he’d just tell you what you did wrong, or what you should be doing that you weren’t, and let you go about your business.
Jeff was determined to be as competent as either of them, and he thought he was doing a pretty good job. Today, Grey had clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Good day today. Glad to be working at a park with guys like this.”
He’d gone home with a sense of pride, and an eye to a hot dinner and an early night. Today had been satisfying, but tiring in the same measure.
But for some reason, now that he’d cooked his dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, he was struck with the need to head out again.
Normally after a day like today, he’d have been happy enough to veg out on the couch for a couple of hours. Even for someone as dedicated to hard work and the outdoors as Jeff, a break now and then was nice.