Chapter Ten

"Mike, would you like to help me in the kitchen?" Daisy asked, trying to get the youngster's mind off of his worries. She was hoping the work would aid with her own. "You can help with the popcorn."

"Sure, Aunt Daisy," Mike answered without his usual enthusiasm. "Whatcha need popcorn for?"

"I'm going to coat the popped kernels with melted sugar and roll them into balls. They'll be the perfect treat to nibble on later this evening," Daisy answered, grateful that Mike was now by her side and not pressed to the window anymore. The scene outside was becoming more frightful with every minute, especially since there was little light left to be seen anywhere.

Mike dutifully watched the popping corn as Daisy stirred together the sugar mixture and as soon as it was ready, she had Mike dump the plumped kernels into a large bowl and she poured the sugar coating over the top, stirring rapidly to mix everything in the bowl together.

"All right, Mike," Daisy smiled after the popcorn had cooled enough to touch, "you can help me form them into balls. Watch how I do it and then you try."

Daisy and Mike worked side by side until the last kernel of corn remained, and this was placed inside of a mouth, bringing a smile to his lips. Time, at least for a few minutes, passed by more cheerfully, but the sounds of the storm couldn't completely be forgotten.

"Mine aren't as neat as yours," Mike examined the tray of formed popcorn balls, seeing the contrast between Daisy's perfectly shaped batch and Mike's not as round pile. "This one's the worst, I think," he poked one with his finger as Daisy stepped away to wash her hands clean, "it sort of looks like a wooly lamb. Should I just toss it out?"

"No, no, Mike," Daisy turned and glanced at the lump of popcorn that Mike was referencing and smiled. It did have the odd shape of a sheep that hadn't yet been sheared. "We'll keep them all. Besides, sheep have their own place at Christmas."

"I know, because of the shepherds," Mike answered after licking the spoon. "Adam Tolliver's pa has a part in Sheriff Cory's nativity, he's a shepherd, but Adam told me that he didn't wanna have a sheep with him, so he's gonna use that curly haired dog that hangs out in back of the hotel. Prob'ly won't be the same, though."

Mike took the sheep shaped popcorn and set it on the table, prancing it along the surface as he let his imagination take him to a place where there wasn't fear of storms or dark memories. Daisy had no knowledge what went on inside of his head, but as she looked at Mike engrossed in his game, Daisy smiled, glad that the popcorn making experience turned out to be more of a distraction than she'd first planned.

Daisy walked to the desk where the lamp glowed, picked it up and then set it carefully in the windowsill. She didn't know how far out the light would shine, but if there was any chance that her two men were still out there somewhere in the storm trying to get home, perhaps the light would help guide them to safety. She had a strange feeling that they weren't safe in Laramie like she'd suggested to Mike, and this was her small token to help ease her mind, like Mike and his funny shaped popcorn ball.

"Run fast, little lamb," Mike spoke to his popcorn toy, scooting it across the table, it only being natural given the circumstances that he was placing his toy in a similar situation that his fearful mind had placed Slim and Jess. "Don't be afraid just because you're lost. If you look really hard, you'll find a sign to point you home." At that moment, the house shook with a strong gust of wind. Becoming startled, Mike dropped his lamb on the floor. Circling around trying to see it, his foot found it first, the crunch indication enough that the lamb was no more.

"Oh, no," Mike frowned as he kneeled over the popcorn ball that was now in pieces on the floor. "I broke the lamb."

"Don't worry about it, Mike," Daisy said, stepping away from the window as she retied her apron strings, "I'll clean it up in a minute."

Mike sighed, feeling despair, but there was significance in that crumbled popcorn that Mike couldn't understand. What once looked like a lamb, its broken pieces lying on the floor, now had the shape of a cross.

xxx

Jess dropped his hands to his knees, taking in several deep breaths as he waited for Slim to catch up to him. He'd guessed that he'd traveled only as far as a mile, but with the exertion from wading through the deep snow, it felt like he'd ran the entire twelve mile distance from Laramie to home without stopping. Jess stood back up when Slim approached him and Jess waited until his partner caught his breath before he continued the taxing effort of going onward.

"Something feels wrong," Slim said as Jess motioned with his hand that they'd rested long enough.

"Your knee?" Jess asked, reaching a hand out to steady Slim in case his leg was about to give way and drop him down into the snow.

"No," Slim shook his head and pointed towards his right, not knowing what direction they were facing. "Our trail seems off somehow."

"I reckon I coulda missed a turn somewhere," Jess turned around, looking in every direction. "I can't see hardly a thing. We gotta be on a road, 'cause there's a definite span of ground that's unobstructed by trees and such. What do you wanna do?"

"The only thing we can," Slim straightened up, realizing he'd been leaning into a snow bank, resting his knee. "Keep going."

Jess hadn't gone much further before he too sensed the beginning feeling of being disoriented. It would have happened even if he was standing outside of the ranch house, knowing its security was only steps away, but he was far from that safe haven. The hour of complete darkness was only minutes away, but it was intensified by the thick snow that fell from the sky, making the entire landscape like it was exactly the same, but what lay ahead could be dangerously different. Part of Jess wanted to turn around and search for another route, but the other part of him told him that turning back would be a mistake, so he followed what was most sensible and kept moving forward. After another hundred grueling steps, Jess wiped the snow from his eyelashes and looked up, finally being able to see something stark white take shape against the black and snow spattered sky.

"Hey," Jess shouted as he turned towards Slim, barely making out his silhouette even though he was only ten feet away. "I know where we are! We were headed in the wrong direction all right." Jess waited until Slim was beside him before he further explained, pointing above him. "Look at that tree. It's the one that got struck by lightning in August, burning it up until what was left looked like a cross. With this raging storm in front of my face I barely noticed it until I was at the foot of the cross."

"So we're on the road that winds up towards the falls," Slim said, staring up at the tree that pointed its arms out like a sign pointing towards home. "At least we know where we are now. It should be fairly easy to connect back to the main road from here, but it also tells us we're still three miles from the house."

Jess turned to look at his partner, hearing the weary sound in his voice and saw that it matched the expression on his face as he laid a hand on his injury. Slim was pushing himself beyond his limits with the wrenching pain that tore through his knee with every movement, making the exhaustion even more evident in the tightly pinched lines over his forehead and around his mouth. Jess could tell by the look in Slim's eyes that he was wondering if he could make it another three miles, but Jess wouldn't even question it.

"We're gonna make it, Pard," Jess said, the determination sounding stronger in his voice than it was before. "See the sign? We were saved by the cross, now we just gotta believe we're gonna make it home."

Slim stood up straighter and put his hand on Jess' shoulder and gave a resolute nod. They both took one look back at the tree that showed them the way and then they started out once more.