I will put Sam in the next chapter, Danielle. I agree with you. I was just encountering problems having all the original characters included enough.


Desperation

Scarlett pushed aside her dread as the wind buffeted her nearly off the path. She would not think of failure- only of a little girl on the side of a mountain, all alone and shivering.

She was wearing two thick parka type coats, and in her backpack she carried first aid, an electric blanket, a lantern, and the materials needed to start a fire. Also she had managed to stuff in a warm metal thermos of soup for Marti.

Don't think about her lying dead or nearly so, she instructed herself. If she is, she is, and there's nothing you can do about it. All you can do is get up there as fast as you can.

She felt a sudden stab of fear as a large snowflake hit her cheek, the cold of it stinging. She should have told everyone where Marti was, just in case she failed.

It was too late now.

The reason she hadn't told was because they would have stopped her for sure. And Scarlett was fairly certain that they wouldn't get any help from the authorities soon enough. Who wanted to risk their life searching for a tiny, probably already dead little six year old that was

The wind raged around her, and soon visibility was reduced to a few feet. Scarlett could only hope that she was still on the path.

When she had lost all hope that she would ever find the cave, she saw it. A fuzzy, blackish gray patch in front of her.

New energy flowed through her tired muscles. "Marti!" she yelled. "Marti, can you hear me?"

There was an interminable pause. Then she heard a faint, almost nonexistent, call. "Letty?"

Scarlett stumbled forward as fast as she could. She seemed to be going in slow motion, it took so long to reach the owner of that frail little voice. But then she felt something cold and shivering against her hand.

She felt almost sick with relief. "It's okay, baby," she said, pulling Marti up to her. "I'm going to get you warm. Hold on a minute, baby."

"C-can y-y-you g-get N-nut-k-kin wa-arm t-t-t-too?" asked Marti, her teeth chattering.

Scarlett paused her frantic undoing of the coats and saw the limp form of Nutkin held tightly up against Marti's chest. "Sure, baby," she smiled weakly. Then, finally succeeding in unzipping the two jackets and opening the front of her own, she pulled Marti up against her skin, putting all of the layers back on, and resolutely ignoring Marti's whimper of pain at the sudden change in temperature.

It wasn't too pleasant for Scarlett either. Marti was ice cold, and the shock of it nearly made her fall backwards. She gritted her teeth, and bore it.

The wind still raged around them. The 'cave' they were in wasn't really a cave at all, just a little indent in the mountain. But at least it sheltered them from the worst of the wind.

After many long minutes they were the same temperature as the other- cold, but not freezing. Scarlett brought her backpack around to the front. "Are you hungry, munchkin?" she asked gently.

Marti nodded her head sleepily. Scarlett brought the thermos up and poured the soup into the cap. It was still very hot.

Since Marti's arms were trapped in the coat, Scarlett had to feed her. It was a tricky business, but the thawing little girl was as hungry as a bear and needed the internal heat the soup would give her. Also, she would need the sustenance. If this storm continued the way it was, they might be holed up for a considerable amount of time.

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"I called the authorities," said Nora, her voice strained, "but they won't be able to get here quicker than tomorrow because they can't fly in. The station doesn't have the ability to get together a safe search party."

Everyone jumped as George's fist slammed down onto the table. They had set up a tent over it, and there was a space heater going full throttle. "That'll be too late!" he roared.

Derek felt numb. Smarti was gone. His Smarti was out there, all by herself, probably dying of hypothermia as he sat.

A gloomy silence fell over the party. George tapped his fingers, Sam was holding Casey, Nora had her arm on her husband's shoulder, and Derek couldn't sit still. Edwin was fidgeting nervously.

Then, suddenly, Lizzie looked around. "Where's Scarlett?" she suddenly asked.

Everyone froze.

"I saw her come out of her tent this morning," said Nora slowly, "and sit down. Then you told us about the storm, and I realized that I hadn't seen Marti. I don't remember seeing her after that."

"I did," said Casey quietly. "She went white when you said something. I hadn't been paying attention, and when I saw her I asked what was going on."

"I faintly remember her getting some soup and putting on all sorts of layers," offered Edwin.

Derek looked up. "She went after Marti," he said blankly.

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Scarlett had somehow managed to get the electric blanket fastened around the entrance of the indent, keeping some of the gusts out and also radiating heat.

Despite all these things, Scarlett's lips were blue. It was freezing out there.

She'd given all of the soup to Marti, and scooped some snow into the thermos for water later. For now, they were fine. But Scarlett knew that if the storm did not loosen its fierce grip soon, they would have no chance.

"Letty," said Marti, nearly crying, "Nutkin isn't moving. He'll be okay, right?"

Scarlett looked down into Marti's grey eyes and hadn't the courage to lie to her. "He might, munchkin. We've done all we can, and its up to him now whether he lives or not."

Marti nodded tearfully, and looked down.

After another hour of relative silence, Marti began.

"Letty," she whined.

"Yes, munchkin?" sighed Scarlett.

"I'm bored. When are we going to leave?"

"Soon, Marti," she replied tiredly, and she smiled wanly.

After the sixtieth time Marti asked the exact same question, Scarlett became fed up. "All right. You can't ask that question unless you spend twenty points on it. To get points you have to do what I tell you or answer my questions right. Okay?"

"Okay," agreed Marti cheerfully.

That was how the next three hours were passed. However, even as Marti off into sleep, the storm still blustered mercilessly around them. Scarlett sat with a grim smile plastered onto her face, her desperation mounting with every passing minute.

She looked down at Marti's tranquilly sleeping face, and a tear escaped from her and flowed down her cheek.