Page 56 of Deck the Hauls

And then I started sprinting toward where the trap had been.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

EMILY

My hands stiff with cold, I fumbled in my handbag and pulled out my phone. I stared at it, willing the bars on the screen to reappear. Still no signal. It was almost out of power too. Shit. Why did I think this was a good idea?

I’d been so sure I knew where we’d left the trap, but it was nowhere to be found. Even if Dana did come to meet me, the chances of her finding me out here were low. I’d turned around a couple of times looking for the trap and now I wasn’t sure which way I’d come and snow was falling heavier by the minute, covering my tracks. There was no chance of following my footprints back to safety.

I scanned the trees, trying to get my bearings. They all looked the same in the fading light. I wiped snow off my face and took a deep breath of frigid air.

If I followed a row of trees, I’d eventually get out of the forest. Once I was out, I’d surely be able to work out where I was and then I could find my way back to the barn. If I was lucky, I’d end up back on the path I’d started on. If I was even luckier, at some point I’d get cell reception and be able to call for help before my phone ran out of power.

I peered each way down the row of trees. Which way felt more likely to have been the way I came? Shit. I didn’t have a clue.

Tears welled in my eyes. I shouldn’t have left without Dana. Enough had happened today without adding being lost in a snowstorm to the mix.

A tiny black-and-white bird hopped onto the snow a few feet from me, pecked at the ground and then flew onto a branch.

I blinked away my tears and looked up at him.

“Hello little fellow. Do you know which way the barn is?”

“Chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” The bird flapped its wings and took flight, heading down the row of trees.

Was that a sign? In any event, I had to start moving fast, before it was so dark I couldn’t see. If I was lost out here all night, there was a real risk I’d freeze to death. I was already so cold. A biting chill stung my toes.

I hurried down the row in the direction the bird had flown.

A news headline flashed into my mind. Emily Rossi perishes in snowstorm following last ditch attempt to revive her failed career.

I shivered. I did not want to die. I had so much to live for. My family. My career. Dana.

“Emily!”

I blinked.

While faint, that sounded like Dana.

Was I hallucinating? Was this the first stage of hypothermia?

I slowed, looking around. Just trees and snow.

It probably was wishful thinking, conjured by the thought of Dana, but it wouldn’t hurt to call back. Just in case.

“Dana!” I yelled.

“Emily! Keep calling!” Her voice was louder now and there was a flicker of light between the trees.

My chest expanded.

“Dana! I’m here!”

And then there she was, stepping out from behind a Christmas tree, snow dusting her ponytail and the shoulders of her jacket.

Her face broke into a huge smile.

I blinked away tears.