Growing UP
Roger woke to find his tarp sprinked with new snow. Leaden, threatening clouds were coming down the mountain like an avalanche. He had made one last attempt to find the northern pass, and now he knew he'd made a terrible mistake. David's horse and bedroll were gone and though the new snow covered any track, Roger knew that he must have gone in the direction they'd talked about last night. David had wanted to make one last attempt, ignoring the older man's feel for the weather change coming.

Knowing that to look for David himself would be fruitless and dangerous, he saddled his horse quickly and spurred for the ranch trail. If a seasoned rescue team could not locate David before the blizzard struck, he had only a dim chance of survival even if he remembered all of his training and kept his head. David was only 15 years old, and fairly new to the wilderness.
*****

Linda tried to concentrate on her sewing, but her eyes kept wandering back to the window and the snow that had just begun to fall. The winter had just officially started, but she thought the clouds looked like a blizzard and wondered if Bill would be home for supper or if he'd have to work late getting the animals settled in for the storm.

She shifted her weight once again, trying to get comfortable with her growing abdomen. The baby wasn't due for another month, but she was beginning to hope it would come early. The doctor had said she thought there might be twins, which would account for the size she had attained, but had not been able to distinguish two separate heart beats. Without the diagnostic equipment of a regular hospital, they just had to wait for nature to take its course.

Expecting Cathy to come to visit soon, she decided to start the kettle boiling now. Moving around really seemed to help the most, and she regretted that she couldn't even walk outside, let alone ride as she so loved to do. She shrugged, knowing that this was only temporary, and then smiled as she remembered the joy in Bill's eyes each time he saw her. Yes, it was ok. She just had to be patient.
*****

Bill, inside the new barn, heard a horse coming fast and stepped out a side door just as Bradshaw's black gelding slid to a stop in the muddy yard. He was breathing hard and stood trembling as Roger launched himself to the ground. Tearing the muffler from his face, he yelled for Bill to start saddling horses, then handed the reins to a stable hand and ran toward the main buildings.

Soon the big alarm bell was ringing furiously, and people were coming from all sides to find out what the trouble might be. A dozen men were sent to the barn to help saddle horses, while a group of women began their old chore of loading packs and canteens. Betty helped to shepherd the children into the dining room while the men crowded into the old common room to hear the news.

"Big blizzard coming on fast and David is lost in it!" Roger breathed hard between sips of hot tea. His face was chapped and red where the muffler had not covered it, and his voice was hoarse. "We've got to get out there and find him as fast as possible or he may never be seen again! He's on my old gray gelding, which may help, but only if he will trust the horse and turn him loose." Putting his head down into his folded arms, his shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. "What a fool I was to go out so late, and even more to take that boy with me," he cried.

Don, David's father, looked stunned, and when Martha came in, he folded her into his arms without a word. She knew David had gone out with Bradshaw, and she didn't need a gypsy to foretell the danger to her son since he wasn't present. She was the sort who simply prayed instead of screaming, but the scream was certainly somewhere deep inside.

Don, with Jeff and the other militia members who were trained in wilderness tactics assembled quickly, slinging the packs over their shoulders as they rushed out to the waiting horses. Roger had shown them the last known location of the boy on his map, and now he had to let these younger and stronger men take care of the emergency. For the first time he really acknowledged his age and resented deeply the obvious fact that he couldn't lead them out as he had always done.

Betty's strong hand on his shoulder brought him up short, and he heaved a big sigh of release. No, he was still not always ready to relinquish control, but he knew he must get used to it.

The snow was falling ever faster as the rescue team headed out to the lake valley where their trail would begin. They had all been over the territory many times over the last few years and knew that the real difficulty would begin once they reached the mountain. Once the blizzard began, nobody had any doubt that they would have little hope of finding the boy.

Jeff pulled up at the point where Roger had told him he thought David had gone. He couldn't see much of the canyon above him through the snow, and began to despair. Their horses blew and stamped in the rapidly increasing cold, and the men looked bleak. He didn't even bother taking out the map. He was certain of his position, and saw no way they could accomplish anything by going in except to get lost themselves.

Making the most difficult decision of his life, Jeff finally signaled for the team to turn around and head back. The snow was almost blinding now, and his beard was stiff with ice. Urging the horse around, he waited for the others to get situated and then started on the back trail.

Suddenly, a weak shout came from the woods behind them and they were all overjoyed to see a very tired and bedraggled gray gelding step onto the trail behind them. "You weren't going to go off and leave me, were you?" the young man said through chattering teeth.

Don rode back quickly and took the boy up behind him. Someone else got out an extra coat and wrapped it around David. Within moments they were traveling as fast as possible in the ever deepening snow. David hugged his father as hard as he could, fully aware of his very close call and deeply grateful to be heading home. The tired horse that had been his salvation trotted wearily behind them, no doubt thinking horsy thoughts of his own warm stall.

Once back home, David was thoroughly welcomed, cosseted, loved, scolded and cried on by both parents and their neighbors. Roger slipped out to the barn. He rubbed the old horse down and pinned a thick blanket on him before heading back. He hoped David would learn something important through all this, as he had.
****

The blizzard raged for three days, piling up more snow than anyone could remember having seen at one time. The temperatures dropped well below zero each night, not getting much above it during the day. The wood and coal piles shrank quickly, while everyone struggled to keep both people and animals from freezing.

That first afternoon, the horses were safe in their new barn, but the cattle out in the fields had been at serious risk and Roger hadn't thought there was a prayer they would all survive. The old barn had been quickly cleared out, and all of the pregnant cows had been bedded down inside. The bulls and remaining steers huddled around on the side, more or less out of the wind, and had been given all the grass hay possible since they couldn't graze. Keeping them all watered had been a chore, with snow melted in large tin tubs over small fires several times a day. At least they had not been forced to haul the water.

The forth day dawned clear and 20 below zero. The men were grateful that the wind had died down as they tended to the animals. Two of the steers were found to have died of the cold during the night, and others set to work processing the meat before it could freeze solid. It was an ugly, distressing chore, but they certainly could not afford to waste the meat, and the carcasses would have attracted wolves or lions very quickly if left where they fell.

The waste products were loaded onto a sled and dumped over the edge of the rocky cliffs where the first goblin attack had come so long ago. The local predators would clean it up there and not be tempted so much to come into the settled area. Then the meat was hauled to the HQ building and dozens of hands made short work of packaging it for future use and each participating family took some of it home with them. With their population now at just under 400, there was no longer any way for them all to gather when the park was four feet deep in snow, but the older folks remembered that this sort of thing had once called for a big stew and the joy of sharing a meal together.

Lauri carried her share home and set it to brown on the stove. Rubbing her arthritic hands to warm them, she fed the dog and started the other processes necessary for a solitary dinner. She'd had a boarder off and on the last two years, and missed having a companion very much. Hopefully, someone else might come along who would like to share her tiny cabin. "I'll have to ask at the bachelor's quarters," she thought.

The sky was red as the sun went down, telling the weather wise that the next day would be fair. Since the temperature had risen above zero, they hoped it would also get warmer.

Linda was delivered of twin girls on Christmas day, and Bill couldn't have been more delirious if he'd gotten drunk. But he didn't, and never would again. Sitting in the darkened warm room, he watched Linda nurse both babies in some sort of complicated criss-cross hold. He treasured them all so dearly and regretted only that it had taken him so long to come to his senses and grow up.

Later, when the girls were sleeping, he took Lisa from her mother and lay down on the cot beside the bed, cradling her in his arms. Linda arranged Lilly by her side and settled down herself to sleep.  The glow of the coals in the glass faced stove spread a warm light on the happy family, and Linda's old dog snored his contentment on the rug.

And so it was that the rest of the winter passed without alarm or serious disaster. The snow was deep and the cold extreme at times, but life went on. Peace, love and plenty; learning, hard work and struggle.. almost as if they were meant to go together.