tling Leah on the couch by the now-crackling fire, she piled
the blankets and quilts up around her.
Then she turned to Lizzie and opened the covers. "Want
to join Leah?" As if she understood, Lizzie hopped right up
and snuggled close while Maggie tucked them both in.
"Keep her nice and warm, old girl."
Maggie found a plaid woolen jacket hanging on the door.
It smelled like Jed. She put it on and went back outside, for
what she hoped would be the last time tonight, and turned
off her engine, remembering to bring her cell phone back
inside with her. Without wasting a moment, she went into
the little kitchen area a~ thanked God for the gas stove sit-
ting in the corner. She thought she'd seen a large propane
tank at the side of the house last summer. She lit a burner and
quickly filled the teakettle with hot tap water, wondering if
Jed's water heater migh~~so be gas powered.
Then she went t~check on Leah, who was sitting up now
stroking Lizzie's silky ears, her eyes still wide and dazed.
"How did you know to come for me, Maggie?" she asked in
a dry whisper. Maggie gently rubbed her warm hands over
Leah's. The young girl's hands were white and delicate and 264.
Melody ~ar1son
reminded Maggie of the lilies in the springtime, but they felt
as cold as death. Maggie shuddered.
"I called to check on you, leaving a message for you to
call me back." Maggie looked fondly upon her. "When you
didn't, I began to feel a little concerned, so Lizzie and I
decided to take a little ride Out in the snowy night."
Leah shut her eyes for a moment. I'm so glad you did."
Just then the teakettle began to whistle. Maggie went
over and stirred a packet of instant cocoa into a big green
mug, topping it off with a little cold milk from the refriger-
ator, then brought this back to Leah. "Here hold this to
warm your hands and then drink it slowly." Then she
reached down and pulled off Leah's lightweight leather
boots and gently rubbed her cold feet, holding them close to
the fire for warmth.
"What happened, Leah?" she finally asked. What she
really wanted to know was why hadn't Leah immediately
climbed from the stranded pickup and walked on to Jed's
place. It was less than two miles and couldn't have taken
much more than an hour or so to get there. Surely a good
hike would've been better than freezing in that truck!
Leah took another sip of cocoa and Maggie was relieved
to see the color slowly returning to her lips. They had been
a pale shade of blue when Maggie had first discovered her.
"It started snowing real hard on my way home," began
Leah, "but I was driving pretty careful~r so I thought. And
then suddenly the pickup just started to swerve." She took
another sip of cocoa. "That's when I jerked the wheel.. .1