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There’s only the wind howling with an unrelenting fury.
I shake my head. “I hear nothing but the wind.”
The air is thick with tension as we exchange anxious glances, our breath visible in the frigid mudroom.
“Just listen,” Claudette whispers this time.
We fall into a strained silence, our ears tuned to the outside world.
Then I hear it too, and my eyes lock on Rhia’s.
Amidst the wind’s roar, there’s a distant rumble. A sound that could be mistaken for the storm’s ferocity… or it could be the sound of a snowmobile engine.
We all hold our breath as we strain to decipher the nature of the approaching noise.
“It’s them,” I declare, my voice barely audible above the wind. “It has to be.”
A spark of hope flickers in Rhia’s eyes. The hope is fragile, suspended in the air like a delicate snowflake, but we cling to it as we listen intently.
We stumble to our feet and rush to the door.
“Here, put these on,” Claudette calls and throws us our jackets. We hastily pull them on, along with our scarves and beanies to shield against the biting cold.
The noise grows louder as we swing open the door. It’s nearly ripped from our grasp with the force of the wind, and the icy blast makes me shiver down to my toes.
The once-distant rumble morphs into a distinct mechanical rhythm, and my heart quickens.
“It’s them!” I shout over the storm.
There’s a faint glow of snowmobile headlights flickering through the thick white veil. And it’s coming closer.
The realization sparks a surge of relief.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as the familiar hum cuts through the blizzard’s roar.
Two figures on a snowmobile emerge from the whiteout.
Hands on the rails, we rush down the stairs to meet them. The snow stings my face as I try to see through the swirling storm.
But I don’t care. Tiero and Lex are back… alive.
The blizzard still rages around us, but my relief overshadows the storm’s fury.
As soon as Tiero gets off the snowmobile, I jump up at him, throwing my arms around him.
“Merda!Get back inside,” Tiero roars. Still, he hugs me right back.
I don’t care that he’s mad at me for being outside. All that matters is that he’s back in one piece… alive and well.
Beside us, Rhia climbs Lex like a tree, holding on tight like a koala, his arms banding around her.
Without saying another word, Tiero scoops me up and climbs the stairs two at a time, returning us to the safety of our cottage.
Over his shoulder, I watch Lex follow us, Rhia still attached to him.
We stagger inside, and Claudette struggles to close the door behind us. Tiero puts me back on my feet and then removes the ski goggles he was wearing. He’s still in his balaclava, leaving only his eyes exposed. They laser in on me, and they don’t look happy.
“What on earth were you doing outside?” he thunders.
