Frozen Fear

Chapter 7

Marshall's eyes stared at the snow in which he fell asleep last night. The snow that once made him jump in excitement, the one that announces winter, his favorite season, now was the same snow that gave him nightmares. The rest of his trail he would curse the snow, blizzards, and anything related to this living nightmare that took Everest away from him.

Outside the cave he found a calmed landscape, still with snow falling, but definitely more calmed than last night. Right away he found the big extension of the moor with a fresh cape of snow with lots of rocks of odd shapes randomly distributed. It was a gorgeous view, but he had no time to waste, so he started walking again, but with cautious.   

Thirty minutes, one hour, two hours had passed since he left his shelter and it could be noticed by the change of the scenario. A snowy forest appeared with its big pines and bushes. A chain of majestic mountains showed behind with the sound of birds coming from the plain. What really caught the rescue pup's attention was the lacking of strong winds. There was almost no sign that here took place a horrible snowstorm.

"Looks like today was perfect to search..." he said in a low tone. It made him think though. Would it had been any different if he had waited until today to start looking for Everest, like Ryder ordered? Even if the bridge had broke together they would have found a way to the other side, the way the PAW Patrol always does. They would have their vehicles and probably would have found Everest by this moment.

But no, if that was the case, then they would had found him in the way, and there was no sign of anyone besides him in this desolated forest, except for the bunnies that just appeared behind the bushes and the birds in the branches of the pines. No, he took the decision he thought was right, and so far, he was way closer to find Everest than the rest of the team was.

Marshall continued his way through the forest for hours without stopping for a break, a big mistake considering that he has been like this since the morning, and now the sun was hiding in the horizon. Other thing, he hasn't eaten since he left the cabin. Now he was regretting not having hunger in lunch time. He knew he had to save energy, but he felt like he was so close that he didn't dare to stop for a second. But he also knew that Everest depended on what he could do for her, and if he was weak for the moment he finds her, the only difference would be both dying together.

And so, he decided to continue only until he passed had passed the mountains. It was dark for that moment, the moonlight wasn't so pleasant that night, but was enough for him to find somewhere to rest. This time though he couldn't find a cave or anything alike, the best thing he found was a small tree, which leaves helped him like a improvised roof, and with the help of some branches he found he managed to make a nice shelter, at least for that night. 

This night he managed to sleep somewhat peacefully, even with that sound coming from a few feets away. Almost immediately after he got out of the shelter he looked for that sound which came from behind a huge rock with some snow in the front. Soon enough he found it, the sound of water flowing through rocks in a river.

"This must be the river Jake talked about!" exclaimed Marshall. "Ok, now I just need to find the cave, but it could be anywhere near here." He looked his surroundings, but anything close looked like the huge cave Jake mentioned.

Unless...

When it hit his mind he immediately turned to the big rock he just passed. It didn't even look like the description Jake gave them, but... "The storm was really strong, what if..."

He rushed over to the pile of snow in the front and tried to dig the snow. His blood freeze when he placed his paw in the white and it got loose, leaving a small gap where he could spot what looked like the interior of a cave. His theory was confirmed, the cave was buried almost to the top with snow, with the entrance completely blocked by it. This was the cave.

But if it's true then here is...

"Everest!" He screamed, but tripped in his step and rolled down the pile of snow, but quickly got on his feet again and ran to the gap.

"Everest!"