Little Bird

Chapter Four

Somehow I fall asleep. I wake up when the engine sputters out and the cold starts seeping in around the windows and down my jacket. The sky is turning a pale shade of pink-grey. I moan and stretch my back, then take my hands out if my mittens and blow on my fingers. My warm breath makes my cold skin tingle and I slip my mittens back on and climb out of the car.

I had forgotten about the snowdrift. I sink to my waist in snow and squirm my way into snow up to my calfs.

The sky is clear. The sun is reflecting off the snow, a blinding expanse of white. The road I'm on twists ahead into a wall of snow-covered conifers and maples. Every few hundred meters there is a house lining the street with a car in the driveway buried in snow. I hear a door slam and a shovel start scraping a driveway, the sounds echoing throughout the street.

"Hey!" Calls a voice. I spin around and see a man standing at the top of his driveway, leaning on the handle of a shovel, wearing a blue hat with a pompom. "Are you stuck?" He calls.

"Yeah!" I shout back, my voice clearer than I expected and echoing towards him.

He starts to make his way down his driveway towards me. I watch him come nearer. He is wearing a black winter coat and blue jeans covered in snow up to the knees with beige, lace-up winter boots. He comes and stands next to me and I have to look up to see his face.

"How long have you been here?" He asks.

"Like, all night," I say."Engine is dead."

"Wow. You didn't call a tow truck?"

"Don't have a phone," I say, spreading my hands then jamming them in my coat pockets. I bury my nose in my scarf, breathing through my mouth to heat up the fabric and warm my face.

He stares at the truck for a bit then says, "If you don't mind me asking- what was a young girl doing out all night?"

I freeze for a moment, then go with my gut instinct and say, "I'm not young!"

He looks at me and laughs. "Sure," he says, and doesn't press the issue further. "Well, there's not much we can do but call a tow truck, since the engine is dead. And it might be a while till one can make its way over here 'cause of all the snow. We got quite a storm last night." He drags his toe through the snow, leaving a fat, curved line, and looks at me. "You may as well come inside till we can get you unstuck."

He starts to walk back to his house, then turns around. "Aren't you coming?"

"I don't..."

"Don't worry, my sister is home, too. I'm not a maniac rapist who lures girls into his home when they get stuck in snowdrift." he pauses and winks.

I ignore his twisted humour. "I really need to get home," I say, thinking of Gabe and Penny and Mom. Rosie.

"Come inside at least to warm up. Maybe I can drive you home."

I find myself nodding and we walk over to his house together. It's s quaint little bungalow, covered in snow with Christmas lights along the gutter and strung through the limbs of the tree in the front yard.

We go inside, where it smells like cinnamon. I follow his lead and wipe my feet on the mat, place my boots on one if the black boot trays, and hang my coat on one if the hooks nailed to the wall. A small stained glass cross hangs on the front window and throws colours on the laminate tile floors.

I follow him through his small family room where the tv is turned on to a cooking show, into the kitchen where a girl with her hair in a high bun, wearing yoga pants and a thigh-length cardigan is sitting with her legs crossed at the kitchen table and a mug of tea in her hands, pressed to her lips. The view out the window shows their snow-laden backyard with a half-buried picnic table and rabbit tracks through the middle of it. Right after I think "their house has so much natural light" I realize that I don't even know his name.

"Hi," says his sister. "Found an orphan? At least it's not a dog this time."

"Her truck is stuck in a snowdrift. I'm gonna call a tow." He picks up the phone from the counter and walks into the next room.

"Have a seat," says his sister, and I sit across the table from her. "Want some tea?"

"No, that's o-"

"Don't be ridiculous, you look frozen," she says, getting up and taking another mug from the cupboard. She pours steaming tea from a teapot on the counter into it and brings it over to me along with the milk and the sugar. I drop a spoonful of sugar into it and look at my reflection in the top of it before I take a slow and skeptical sip.

"I'm Julia," she says, pulling her hands into her sleeves and wrapping her fingers around her mug.

"Jackie," I say.

Silence.

The hot water tank turns on in the basement and the low rumble vibrates throughout the house.

The boy comes back into the kitchen and hangs up the phone. "They'll be here as soon as the roads are cleared." Then as a second thought with a glance outside: "Could be a while."

"I really have to get home," I say, and I start bouncing my right leg without realizing.

Julia and her brother exchange glances.

"What's the rush?" Asks Julia.

"Um..." I look at the floor, trace the perimeter of a tile with my toe. The warmth of the house is making my cold skin tingle. I decide to go with the basic truth. "My mom needs my help watching the kids," I say.

"Wanna give her a call?"

I purse my lips. "I guess I'll try." He hands me the phone and I go into the family room. It takes me a moment to remember my number, then I perch on the edge of their sofa while I listen to the phone ring on the other end. After seven rings a small voice says, "Hello?"

"Penny?"

"Who is this?"

"It's Jackie!"

Her voice seems to relax when she asks, "Where are you?"

"I'm safe. The truck got stuck in the snow."

"Did you find her?" There are tears stuck to the edges of her voice and I hear her swallow.

"Penny," I say, "I'll find her."

"But you haven't yet?" I can hear her small breaths on the other end of the phone line. She sniffles.

I sigh. "Where's Gabe?"

"In his room. He hasn't come out since he took the burnt lasagna out of the oven last night."

"Have you eaten today?" I practically whisper. I don't want Julia and her brother to suspect anything fishy. I want to appear normal for once in my life. Who knows what they can hear from the kitchen, with just a wall between us.

"Yeah, there's cereal in the cupboard."

I smile. "Good girl. You're awesome."

"Are you coming home?"

"Yes. I'll be home soon. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Good bye."

"Bye, Penny, I love you."

"Love you too."

I hang up the phone and return to the kitchen with a smile on my face.

"Any luck?" Asks the boy.

"Yeah, I do need to get home, though."

"I could try to drive you, but Julia said it might be too hard with all the snow. How far do you live from here?"

"That depends on where 'Here' is," I say, feeling dumb.

"Feather Moss Way," he says.

"I live on Stocket," I say.

"Hour and a half walking," he shrugs.

He looks at Julia. She smiles. "Well? You gonna walk your orphan home or what?"

I open my mouth to tell her that I'm not actually an orphan, but the boy stands up and says, "Will you let me walk you?"

And I feel myself nodding and heading to the door to grab my coat.