Day six began badly. It had snowed most of the night. Packs had been left outside and were almost completely covered. Cassiopia had to wrestle with the tarp to get out because a snowdrift had piled up against it. She was having trouble thinking. She knew it was time to pull the sled, but she did not know why. She did not understand why she was here. The sled had to be pulled. That was the only rule. There did not seem to be any urgency about it. There was no reason to hurry. Plenty of pulling had already been done, and there would probably be more tomorrow, so why hurry?
Cassiopia staggered around collecting things and misplacing them. She would gather this and that, bring it all together, and then forget why. She took down the tarp without first moving Markman, but the bumping and banging did not cause him to wake. With everything haphazardly assembled, Cassiopia wondered where to go. A short distance through the trees, there seemed to be a path. She shuffled and slipped her way to it and found a trail covered by new snow that headed downward along the river. She stood in the middle of it and forgot what she was doing. As she turned to walk away, she slipped and fell on her hands and knees. Getting up, there was something hard under the snow. She dug out a section and found it was blacktop. She looked up and realized it was a paved road. That seemed like a good thing, though she wasn’t sure why.
Then a ditch along side the road held back the sled. Cassiopia had to work to gain a few inches at a time. It was well past noon by the time she finally had the sled on the road, and another twenty minutes of rest before beginning the slow trudge down it. Back at the campsite, the precious stove and its fuel remained tucked under a bush where they had been mistakenly left behind.
As the trek continued, it began to snow once more. The roadway became steep and well-covered making the pull almost easy. Through the trees, Cassiopia thought she saw a reflection in the distance, but it was of no real interest. The road became winding and less wooded, the sun just touching the treetops to the west. A sharp turn forced Cassiopia to stop and jerk the sled around to make the corner. When she turned back, something ahead came into view.
Buildings. Here was an unplowed street, with buildings alongside. Shadows were forming from the setting sun. The light was dimming. Cassiopia lugged the sled ahead and was soon in front of the first buildings. Joe’s Radiator Shop. Across from it, Ann’s Antiques. There were no lights on, and no cars out front. Cassiopia kept pulling. Three more buildings ahead and then there was a house with a porch, and lights were on. She dragged Markman along in the center of the street until she was directly in front of the first home’s mailbox. Lights were on in several other houses along the way. There was something she was supposed to do now, but she could not quite remember what it was. She was here for a reason, what was it? She stood staring ahead, trying to get her mind to work.
Margaret Cummings watched the evening weather and shook her head. Snow again. She pointed the remote at the set and switched it off, then went to the window and pulled back the curtain to check the weather herself. Something outside startled her.
“Oh my! Frank, you’d better come take a look at this.”
Her husband put down his hot chocolate and peered out from the kitchen. “What is it?”
“It’s a homeless person out in the street pulling a sled full of junk.”
Frank came alongside his wife and looked out with her. His neighbor’s porch light had just come on. “We’ve got to go out there, Peg. We can’t let anyone try to stay outside all night in this weather.”
They grabbed their coats and headed for the front door. Farther down the street, other lights had come on, and others were making their way outside to see what was going on. A small group of people approached the strange, cloaked figure in the middle of the snow-covered road.
The man first to arrive tried to smile. “Hello. I’m Reverend Harrison. You look like you could use some help tonight.”
Cassiopia tried to speak, but could not get the words to come out. She stood staring blankly at the kind man in front of her, as the cloth across her face suddenly fell away.
Reverend Harrison’s expression changed to shock at the sight of the young woman behind the mask. “Where have you come from?” he asked, and he reached out one hand.
Cassiopia’s eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled up in her head. She fell forward into the arms of the Reverend, and the world spun down into darkness.
Chapter 9