Land of Dust and Hope by Michael Downing

Author:Michael Downing [Downing, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Grove Books

Jen had not been able to sleep because she had a dream about James holding her, so she woke up with restlessness. She was also irritated by Gil’s loud snoring, so she walked out into the night in her nightgown to feel the cold wind on her body for a couple of minutes. The frigid air felt especially good on her face and calmed her as she took a deep breath. When she turned and looked to the east, she saw the fire a mile away and knew that it was Cheyenne’s place.

She rushed back into the house and grabbed the phone to call Danny at the Happy Volunteer Fire Department. “Danny, it’s Jen. Come quick! I think Cheyenne’s set the house on fire.”

“I’ll be damned. I’ll get the boys, and we’ll be out there as fast as we can.”

“Go quickly. I’ll try to get there, but I have to dig out the pickup. It’s in a snow drift.”

“We’re coming, Jen. Don’t worry.”

“Danny, the flames must be really high—I can see them from here.”

Jen ran into the bedroom and shook Gil, but he was out cold, and she couldn’t rouse him. “Damn you! Damn it!” She quickly put on Gil’s old Army coat and some work boots, then shot out of the house. She tried to run to the barn, but it was very difficult to get through the snow that had drifted between the house and barn. She was out of breath as she slid the heavy barn door aside and grabbed a grain scoop before making her way to the pickup. She shoveled furiously, but the drift had gotten as high as her head around the pickup. She flung a scoop full of snow so hard behind her that the force made her slip. She struggled up, threw many more scoopfuls of snow until she was too weak to continue. She flung the scoop aside, far from the truck—it was hopeless—and sat down in the snow, burying her face in her cold hands. She felt an old sorrow welling up from far down inside her—she had no words for it, only sobs that were making her rock back and forth now in the cold of the snow. Her cries drifted up to a silent but beautiful winter sky.

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