Or maybe Leah. I know you were awfully close to her too."
Suddenly Maggie realized she hadn't heard back from Leah
all night. She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was
now after ten. Although she hated to disturb Leah this late,
she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep herself out of worry
for the girl. She quickly dialed the number, but this time got
an operator's recording saying that the call could not be con-
nected. She hung up and looked down at Lizzie. The dog
looked up with pleading eyes and whined.
"What is it, girl?" Maggie turned from the nervous dog
and glanced out the kitchen window. The snow had quit
falling a couple of hours ago, and now all looked peaceful
and serene outside, with even a partial moon peeking
through the clouds to illuminate the snow and making it
light enough to see for quite a distance. The dog whined
aga in, and as senseless as it seemed, Maggie felt that she too
was concerned for Leah's welfare.
"Maybe I should just drive on out there and make sure
everything's all right," she said out loud. She looked down
at Lizzie. "Want to go for a ride, girl?"
258Melody Carison
Immediately the dog began wagging her tail. Maggie
smiled. It was probably silly, but she knew she wouldn't
sleep a wink tonight if she didn't. She thought about leaving
a note, but Spencer was gone for the night anyway. She con-
sidered calling her mother, but felt certain Audrey would be
asleep by now, and she didn't want her to worry unneces-
sarily. Besides, she would take her cell phone, just in case.
Then remembering Leah's warnings about preparedness, she
1.bundled up and even thought to grab a spare blanket for her
car, just to be safe. She tossed a few cookies in a plastic bag,
then she and Lizzie took off into the snowy night.
She drove slowly and with caution, marveling at the won-
drous beauty of the snowy night all around her. It was a dra-
matic scene of varying shades of blues and purple and black.
The main road had been freshly plowed and seemed to pre-
sent no hazards, but when she turned onto Jed's road the
plowing ceased. Still, it seemed okay; her tires had adequate
traction, and even as the road began to climb and curve, her
front-wheel-drive seemed to be holding to the road just fine
and she didn't feel it was unsafe to continue. Now she could
see the faint tracks of tires ahead of her, filled in with several
inches of snow, and she suspected they belonged to the
pickup. She imagined Leah snug in bed right now, and felt
silly for making such an effort to check up on her. She knew
she'd have to slink away with her tail between her legs for
being so paranoid. Maybe she could simply spy the pickup
in the drive, then sneak quietly back home. But then again
what if something was wrong inside the house? No, she
decided, she would not rest tonight until she saw Leah face