The Blizzard Bride by Susanne Dietze

Author:Susanne Dietze [Dietze, Susanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643522951
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2019-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

Abby ordered the children into a line based on age, older, younger, older, younger, dispersing the stronger among the weaker. She went first, Willodean next. Coy volunteered to bring up the rear. Those without gloves pulled stockings over their hands, and she’d helped those without hats to pull their shirts or coats up about their ears.

Then, after scrawling their destination on the blackboard in case anyone came to the school looking for them, she’d taken the coil of twine she’d brought for the art projects and wrapped it around each child’s waist, knotting it over and over. Pity they had nothing thicker, but thank God they had something to tether them together.

Lord, have mercy on us. Imbue this twine with the strength of iron and guide us straight on to Burt Crabtree’s. Amen.

“If the person in front of you or behind you falls, help them to stand. We leave no one behind,” she shouted, hoping they could hear her over the wind.

Since she’d given her coat to Florence and her shawl to Oneida, she wrapped her scarf about her head and tucked it into the neck of her blouse, leaving a small hole over her face for her eyes.

Ready, then.

She shoved away the desks in front of the door and stepped out. The vestibule had been frigid as an icehouse, but now that she was outside, the air smacked her face like a slap. There was no choice, however, but to step out into the blizzard. Into … a nothingness of white.

Where was the well? The cottonwoods, or the fence between the school and Mr. Crabtree’s? All she could see was whipping snow, which grated like sand in her eyes. Keeping them open was agony. Oh Lord, I’m blind. I’ll get us lost.

Her lungs ached, and she couldn’t catch enough air to fill them. They were cold, yes, but panic also clawed at her chest.

Remain calm and think.

How far was Burt Crabtree’s house? A hundred yards, as the crow flew? A map formed in her mind, simple but clear. Burt Crabtree’s front door was due east of the schoolhouse and then a few paces north. She had the schoolhouse as a guide for now. Once the schoolhouse stopped, if she continued straight, she could find the well, and beyond it, the fence he’d been repairing. At the fence, she’d bear left, to the north, which was into the wind, but the fence would guide her for several paces before she and the children would have to climb over it and cross his yard. If she walked straight …

Easier said than done. The wind pushed from behind, knocking Willodean into her.

She turned around to set Willodean on her feet and then pressed her palm against the schoolhouse, starting their march east. At the end of the school, she took as deep a breath as she could manage. She must walk straight, eyes closed, to the well. Extending her hands ahead of her, she focused on her steps. Straight line, straight line. One after another.

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