Angie of the Garden

Chapter Twelve-4

Angie awoke before dawn. She sleepily stepped outside only to discover that the stars had disappeared. Then something wet and cold landed on her shoulder. Angie took it in her hand, realizing that snow had begun to fall. She was wide-awake in an instant, and quickly joined her companions.

"I think we should turn back," Jake was saying to Ed as he packed his mule. "We'll wait until daylight and see what the weather looks like," Ed told him.
"I thought it wasn't supposed to begin snowing for several more weeks. Are you out of your reckoning?" Angie asked him.
"No, but I just might be out of my mind if I have to answer any more fool questions," Ed responded impatiently. "The damn snow comes when it comes. Now just hush."

Angie did not appreciate his tone, yet she knew this was not the time to start an argument. The daylight revealed an ominous looking sky above them. Ed now ran his fingers through his scruffy beard incessantly. Then he addressed his companions.

"We can go back, if you'd like," he began. "But from what I can see the storm seems to be moving from west to east. Which means it will trap us, since we can't outrun it. If we go ahead, and the storm keeps moving on, we might come to some clear weather. That's what I'd think we oughta do."

The four of them looked at each other, saying nothing for a long while. Then Angie spoke.

"As for me, I want to go ahead. I've come all this way to see Tom, and I feel like he's just over the next mountain now. If we go back, I'll have to wait until spring to see him."
"I have nothing to go back to," Tim said solemnly.

Jake looked at Richard with an expression that asked can you make it though the snow? His friend nodded weakly.

"I guess we'll go on," Jake said in a hesitant voice. "But I just hope we're not taking a fool's chance because we're so close to California."
"Don't work that way," Ed said with authority in his voice. "I don't want nobody coming up to me two days from now saying they knew we where heading for trouble. You either want to go ahead or you want to go back. It's one or the other, Anderson."
"I'll go ahead," Jake replied.

The snow became deeper as they proceeded along the mountain trail. Large flakes had fallen in the morning, now smaller ones began to descend in the afternoon. Angie and the others winced as the cold white granules stung their faces. She placed a bonnet on her head; it provided some relief, though her scalp itched incessantly. Later in the day, when the light started to diminish, Ed stopped his mule in front of a group of large trees.

"We'll spend the night here," he told them.
"Shouldn't we keep going?" asked Jake.
"No, we could fall into a ravine or ride off a cliff in the dark," Ed responded.
"We'll stay here for the night. Hopefully the storm will be over in the morning." Ed tied the mules to a tree before distributing a small ration of food to his companions. He had hoped to supplement their provisions by hunting, but that would only be possible now if the snow abated. Angie and the others ate their meal in silence. No one in the party discussed the implications of the early snow, but all were aware of them. They finished eating and then wrapped themselves in whatever was available to them. Ed stood watch while the others huddled under the pines.

Jake relieved him later that night. The bitter cold made it difficult for him to stay awake. He tried to remain alert by continuously cursing the falling snow. Jake had started to feel woozy when he heard a noise in the woods nearby. Sitting in the cold had slowed his reactions, and as a result Jake did not respond to the potential threat until one of the mules voiced a loud protest. Then he saw three barely discernable figures untying the animals from the tree. Jake tried to fire his rifle, but his hands were too stiff from the numbing cold to operate the weapon. A shot did ring out just as the mules ran off. That was fired by Ed, whose pursuit of the thieves and the animals was to no avail.

Jake lowered his head. He had let his companions down, and his inaction could quite possibly put their very lives in jeopardy. Ed returned and looked at the others carefully. Much to Jake's surprise, the mountain man did not comment on his performance during the watch. Ed Black instead focused on the task ahead of them.

"Folks, we're up against it now. We've got a lot of walking to do. And we don't have much food left. Most of what we had was on the mules. So get as much rest as you can."
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't get my hands to work fast enough," Jake said to him before retiring.
"There ain't nothing to be done about it now," Ed replied without turning to face him. "Just get some rest."

The next day brought no relief from the snow. They struggled through drifts that were waist deep. Richard Knowles was having the most difficulty, as he had never completely recovered from the salt flats. Angie, Tim and Jake helped him as much as they could, though their efforts were only barely sufficient to keep Richard with them.

Their friend was about to suggest leaving him behind when Ed spotted a cabin in the distance. The small wooden structure was situated in the far end of a majestic canyon.

"We'll stay there tonight," Ed informed them.
The cabin was much farther away then it initially appeared. The five of them struggled against the roaring wind that swirled around the horseshoe shaped canyon. They used every last bit of their strength to cross the icy white terrain and reached the shelter of the abandoned home as darkness fell. There was some dry firewood next to the fireplace inside, and the travelers gratefully took advantage of it. Then Ed distributed the evening meal. As he did so the guide received some incredulous looks from the others.

"What little we have has to last a long time," he reminded them. "Unless the snow lets up soon we could be trapped here for a while."
"But you said that we're just staying here for the night," Angie pointed out.
"We ain't going to get anywhere unless the weather changes," Ed told her. "So we'd best just wait it out in here."

Angie started to object, but then realized he was right. She also knew their supplies were precariously low, and that they would not last much longer without replenishing them.

"Yep, it's a rock and a hard place," Ed said after observing the expression on Angie's face. Then to Jake "I'm getting some sleep. I'll relieve you about midnight."

The snow continued for two more days. When it finally stopped, they went outside and attempted to walk out of the canyon. The desperate quintet discovered that the fine white powder was now a foot deeper. After covering less than a quarter mile in an hour, Ed had them return to the cabin.

"We've got to wait it out probably until the spring," he said after they were inside.
"And what in hell are we going to eat?" Jake exclaimed. "We ran out of food yesterday."
"I know that," Ed replied. "There ain't nothing for it right now. I'll stay outside and watch out for any game that might come by. But don't count on it."
Tim went with him.

Angie took a sip from her silver flask as they walked out the door. Jake joined her, though he was reluctant to do so with an empty stomach. Richard weakly declined her offer. He was in a piteous state.

"I never thought you'd turn down whiskey," Angie said with a smile.

Knowles weakly nodded his head to indicate that he too was surprised by his own behavior.

"I put us in this fix," Jake said bitterly.
"That's not true," Angie corrected him. "We wouldn't have gotten much farther with the mules."
"At least we could have eaten them."
"You were cold, and it was dark. Stop blaming yourself, Jake. We'll find a way out of this."

By the next morning, Richard Knowles was dead. Jake gently shut his eyes before taking his remains outside. Angie gave him some time alone before following, while Ed and Tim stayed in the cabin. Jake sadly covered up Richards's remains. As there was no way to give him a proper burial the corpse would remain on the porch of the cabin.

"I guess Richard found a way out," Jake said to Angie with a sardonic grin.