When they arrived at his family's cabin, Daoming Si didn't give Katie any opportunity to set foot in the snow. The doctor said to keep the ankle immobilised and steady for at least two weeks, and that was what he was going to make sure of. Before she could protest, he scooped her up and carried her up about five steps onto the patio of the villa. The driver followed closely behind with their things and let them in with the key he held. Daoming Si put her down on the couch, ignoring her death glares.
"Thanks Tim," he told the driver as Tim gave him the keys, tipped his hat and excused himself. "Home sweet home." He looked around the cabin. It was as cosy as he remembered being there two years ago. It was light and bright, and overlooked a vast and lush forest. He felt a small chill which reminded him to turn on the heating in the cabin.
"I still don't know why you've carted me all the way out to Canada," she said from the couch. She rubbed her gloved hands together then tucked them under her armpits. She was already all rugged up with a woollen beanie, mittens, wool-lined boots, jeans and an oversized windbreaker, but her face was flushed and her lips were turning a slight shade of purple. "It's not like it's appropriate to ski or walk in snow with a sprained ankle."
Daoming Si signed in exasperation. Boy, this woman was insufferable. He had to give her some credit for being almost as stubborn as he was. "Because," he said as patiently as he could manage without losing his temper. "Your aunt and uncle are busy with no experience in taping that ankle daily, plus you can't dance anyway so you might as well come along with us and I can take care of you." That should be very clear. There was no way she could dispute that.
She bit her lip and looked away, as he suspected she would. "Hey, you have a dog!" she said then her face immediately broke into a big smile.
"No, I don't …" he started to say and looked in the direction she was looking. There was a medium- to large-sized golden-haired dog standing on the doorstep on the patio looking right at them, panting. "… have a dog." He finished and walked over to the canine creature. "Hey, where'd you come from?" He gave it a pat on the head and it liked it very much. It kept nudging his hand for more.
"Don't just stand there in the cold with it," Katie urged. "Bring it inside." He ushered the dog into the cabin before Katie could try to get up from the couch. It went up to her and started nudging her hands and legs for contact. Its bottom wagged as hard as its tail went. Katie was so excited and happy. "What's your name, buddy?" she asked as she tried to read the brass tag on its collar. "Max. Your name is Max!" And Max was even happier than before.
He must be someone's then," Daoming Si said thoughtfully. "Maybe he wandered off someone else's cabin. I'll go ask the neighbours. Come on, Max." He slapped his thigh to get the dog's attention as he went towards the door. Max started bounding up to him, leaving Katie looking forlorn on the couch. "I'll be back shortly. Don't worry."
Katie scrunched her face in annoyance. "I'm not worried about you," she told him. "I'm worried if you found his family, I won't get to say Goodbye."
"I'll take you to his family once I find them so you can say your Goodbye, alright?" he said. "Now, stay put until the others arrive or I get back." He shut the door behind him and Max. Women, he thought. I still cannot figure them out. He looked down at Max who looked up eagerly. "Come on, Max. Let's go see who you belong."
It was as if Max knew how to walk off-lead. The canine stayed close to his feet as they walked through the ankle-deep thick snow under the cloudless sky. They went door to door on the same street but no one knew Max or where his family was. Most of the cabin residents were holidaymakers. There was one last house at the end of the street and Daoming Si decided that if it was futile as well, he would head back to his cabin. He knocked on the door twice.
A young family greeted him. "Hi, I found this fellow today. Do you know him?"
They looked at Max. "We've seen him around for about a week now since we moved in but haven't seen an owner. He could have been left behind."
Daoming Si thanked them for their information and started walking with Max back to the cabin. "Well, Max," he said to the dog reluctantly. "Katie is going to love your company more than mine for sure." When they walked the homestretch back to the cabin, the rest of his friends were already there. He must have taken longer than expected. They were surprised to see him enter the cabin with Max, who went up to greet everyone individually with his butt wags and nudges. Shancai and her friend, Xiaoyou, joined in with Katie fussing over Max. Dogs seem to make girls happy, for some peculiar reason.
"So did you find his family?" Katie asked as she scratched his chin with one hand and rubbed his head with the other.
Daoming Si shook his head. "No," he replied. "Someone down the street said he could have been abandoned about a week ago. No one knows where he came from." Katie's face fell into sadness as Max continued to nudge her knees with his tongue hanging out one side of his mouth in ecstasy. Daoming Si walked over to her and got on one knee next to her. "Don't worry. He can stay with us until we figure out what to do with him. You'd want that, don't you?"
Katie nodded then they both realised the cabin was dead silent except for Max's panting. They both looked at their friends who were grinning. "What is it?" Katie asked, looking confused.
"Nothing," Ximen said and shrugged his shoulders but looked at both of them meaningfully, smiling. "We'll go get ourselves settled in while you two have some quiet time to yourselves."
Daoming Si shot up from his position, slightly embarrassed. "What are you talking about?" he mumbled. "We're going to get settled in our room too."
"Wait," Katie interrupted. "Our room? We're not sleeping in the same room. I'm going to go stay with Shancai and Xiaoyou."
"I can't take care of you if you're staying with the them," he retorted. "Your ankle needs to be strapped every day and you can barely walk anyway. You need someone who can strap your ankle and help you around." He picked up her things. "And that'll be me." He eyed her quickly then carried the belongings into the largest master suite. He heard the rest of them chuckle faintly in a distance.
Katie was furious by evening. Daoming Si would not let her do anything. He insisted on doing everything for her including bringing her food and water, and carrying her around the cabin. She felt like a vegetable. They eventually had an argument about him carrying her around against her will and he stopped doing it, allowing her to hobble and hop around the cabin with Max close by most of the time.
It was now evening after a sumptuous dinner prepared by the usual caterer whenever Daoming Si, or any of his family, visited the cabin. Everyone complimented the chef. Even Max had a portion of dinner. Meizuo was sitting at the games table with the girls, who were repeatedly challenging his memory. Over and over again, they couldn't believe his memory for the cards were that accurate. He proved them wrong every single time.
Lei and Ximen appeared from their showers. "What's going on?" Ximen asked quizzically. Meizuo was slumped in his chair with his face and eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
"The girls are driving me crazy," Meizuo replied flatly. "They don't believe my memory. I've been doing this memory game for the past hour. Help." The girls giggled.
"Simple memory games are not fun," Ximen declared. "Let's play Bridge."
Shancai protested. "Not fair!" she said. "You guys are competitive players. We will surely lose."
Ximen shrugged and he planted himself behind Xiaoyou, whom Katie was told by Shancai that Ximen had taken an interest in and Xiaoyou also seemed to like Ximen. Lei pulled up a chair next to Shancai. Katie sat across Meizuo with Max warming her feet under the table. Max was a very good dog. She liked him a lot. It was a shame his family left him behind.
"Finally," Meizuo said. "A real game." The girls rolled their eyes as he started shuffling the cards expertly then distributed them.
Katie vaguely remembered how to play Bridge from Daoming Si's coaching for the challenge a few weeks ago. But Xiaoyou and Shancai had Ximen and Lei's help respectively while Meizuo was exercising his "special skill" of misdirection from across her. The game was unnerving. Her palms were sweaty. She lost two games yet so far.
She was getting panicked and desperate by the third game. Xiaoyou and Shancai were playing expertly, obviously, with the boys' guidance. She was seriously suffering in this game against professional players. She was about to pick a card to show when a hand appeared out of nowhere and held hers in mid-motion.
"Not that one," Daoming Si whispered in her ear which sent tingles down her spine. "Throw this one." He pointed at a card and she did. She won that round. The rest of the boys, Shancai and Xiaoyou grinned at them again. She ignored them.
As the game resumed, Daoming Si quietly leaned on the chair from behind her then held her hand that was holding the fan of cards. Her instinct was to withdraw her hand from his touch but he was holding it firmly while he moved the cards around the deck.
"The trick to Meizuo's memory when playing Bridge is to rearrange your cards often," Daoming Si said aloud. Meizuo's face fell. "Because he reads your facial expression when you're looking at a good card or a bad card, and he remembers the pattern well. So you have to destroy that pattern. There, now just keep doing that and you just might stand a chance."
She nodded and followed suit, switching her cards periodically through the game. His hand was still holding hers the whole time until the rest of the game. She didn't mind after a while because she was desperately trying to remember her own cards that she moved around. Bridge was harder than she had imagined.
They were all down to their last two cards in their hands each. "So how does one defeat Ximen and Lei then?" Katie asked him as she inched back closer to him. She was now very interested in this game of skill, wit and deception.
Daoming Si whispered in her ear again, this time so close she could feel his breath on her neck. "Lei's tactic is to mesmerise his opponent with his stoic expression so don't look him in the eye," he said. She nodded. "As for Ximen, he looks out for patterns so if you can play haphazardly, you can throw him off."
"Si," Ximen protested. "That's cheating." He scoffed. "Xiaoyou, this one." He pointed at their deck and adjusted his glasses.
"YES!" Katie screamed, throwing her last card onto the table. She hi-fived Daoming Si with such a loud slap her palm hurt but she was so excited she had won this round. She forgot about her ankle. She wanted to jump to her feet but felt a pang of pain in her leg as she wobbled unsteadily and sank back into the chair. It hurt but she was laughing instead.
Daoming Si crouched down next to her and touched her injured ankle. "Katie, are you okay? How's your ankle?" he asked, concerned. She waved as if it was nothing. "Okay, bedtime for you, young lady. Let's go." He scooped her up and called Max along.
Katie was still bursting with elation at the game she had won. She didn't care that he was carrying her again in the cabin. She stole a glance at the rest over his shoulder. They were all grinning again. It was like a total norm now. In the room, Daoming Si set her down on the edge of the bed and started to remove the strap on her ankle.
"Can you manage taking a shower on your own?" he asked.
"I'll take longer than usual but I'll manage," she replied and started hobbling slowly into the en-suite bathroom. "I'll yell if I'm in trouble. I promise." She managed the hot shower perfectly fine. She got into her pyjamas and hobbled out of the bathroom to find Daoming Si ready to strap her ankle with some fresh tape in hand. He was awfully quiet this evening after dinner. It felt unusual that they weren't arguing about something.
"There, done," he said as he admired his handiwork. "How does it feel?" She nodded in approval. It felt like the last one, only tighter which means it must be more secure. "Okay, good. Time for bed." He fluffed up a pillow and put it at the bottom of the bed. "Put your ankle there like the doctor said." She laid her head on a pillow on the other end of the bed and he pulled the covers over her. If anything, it was a sweet gesture she appreciated.
He walked around the bed and got in on the other side. There was plenty of room in this king-sized bed. Max had been on the floor this whole time but the canine suddenly jumped onto the bed to join them. Katie expected Daoming Si to protest and tell the dog to get back down onto the floor but he didn't. Max laid down in between their feet and she soon heard both of them sleeping. She drifted off soon after.
The next day, they all went skiing. Except for Katie. She tagged along with some help from Daoming Si especially when it was impossible to hobble through knee-deep snow, he would give her a piggyback ride then. Max was also with them the whole time. He behaved like they were his family, staying close and vigilant all the time. While the others skied, Katie would read a book and Daoming Si would check on her often.
She didn't miss out on the snowball fights while sitting on the steps outside the cabin however, but she was an unmoving target so Daoming Si had warned anyone who tried to pick on her that he would take revenge. She was still hit anyway for those who wanted to aggravate him on purpose. Everyone had a wonderful time that day, laughing and squealing, playing with snow.
When evening came, everyone was indoors as a blizzard was predicted to come through the night. The doors and windows were secured. The boys checked thoroughly. After another catered sumptuous dinner, everyone except Daoming Si and Katie were in the cellar enjoying some wine. Daoming Si was taking a shower. Katie didn't like wine so she didn't bother hobbling down the stone steps. Instead, she was in the family room reading a magazine next to the fireplace with Max when the dog got up and started to paw the front door urgently.
"Max, what's wrong?" Katie put down the magazine and followed him, hobbling along. Her ankle was feeling better with the multiple strappings Daoming Si had been doing for her. "You shouldn't go out now. It'll get very cold soon." But Max was quite frantic. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought it was his toilet dance. "He must be busting to go." She thought about it and opened the door for him. "Go Max. Come back quickly." She stood at the door as she watched him disappear into the dark. The storm had not arrived yet but it was expected at anytime. About a minute passed and she still couldn't see him. She started to panic. "Max?" she yelled into the dark. "Max! Come here, boy! Come back!" Still no sign of the canine.
Worried, she grabbed her windbreaker from the coat rack and left the cabin. She put on the windbreaker and zipped it right up to her chin. She ambled along as fast as she could in the direction that she saw Max went. "MAX?" she shouted. She continued to yell his name as she kept walking further. It was getting darker by the moment. She criticised herself for not taking her phone or a torchlight along for visibility. Canada had wolves and bears in the wild, and moose and reindeer, amongst other dangerous creatures like wolverines. She was further and further from the cabin but she kept looking back to ensure it was in sight. She could do this - just find Max and drag him back to the cabin by the collar if she had to, following the lights of the cabin.
She ventured further and the snowstorm was picking up. "MAX!" she cupped her mouth and shouted as loud as she could. Finally, a four-legged figure was in sight but as it came closer, she realised it was too large to be Max. It was a moose, a buck. She yelled at it and waved her arms to shoo it away. She didn't know if it was feeling threatened or was trying to threaten her. She could hardly see anything. She just didn't want trouble right here, right now. She was already in a predicament. The buck came closer and closer, swinging its head this way and that.
For Christ's sake, stupid, she thought at the moose. This isn't the time to be showing off your stupid antlers. Go away! She didn't know what else to do. She certainly couldn't outrun it and she didn't want to turn her back on it. While she was contemplating the situation, Max appeared next to her and started barking at the moose. The buck turned tail and ran away. Maybe I should have barked at it to begin with. That worked like a charm. She stooped down into the snow to hug Max, relieved that he wasn't mauled by wolves or bears or wolverines. But when she turned back to where she thought the lights of the cabin would be, she couldn't see anything.
She panicked again and while holding on to Max's collar, she took a few steps through the snow and fell over instead. It was freezing and painful as the snow touched her face. She tried to get up on one good leg but it kept sinking into the soft snow. She was stuck in thigh-deep snow. Her jeans were soaked through with the ice and she could feel her thighs cold then she started losing any feeling of her legs. Even her ankle didn't feel sore anymore.
Oh no, she thought as her head screamed. I'm stuck, I'm wet, I'm going to freeze to death out here! She was still holding on to Max's collar as the dog tried to push his way through the snow, pulling her along. He was getting somewhere but with her holding on to him, he was sinking back into the space in the snow he had made. She had to let him go and he broke through, scurrying away. She couldn't see him anymore as she curled up to keep warm but it was futile. She was going to die in this blizzard. There would be nothing left but a frozen corpse in the morning.
She just had to open that stupid door for the stupid dog.
Daoming Si burst into the cellar. "Have any of you seen Katie?" he asked, flustered. "Or the dog. I can't find them anywhere in the cabin."
His friends snapped their heads towards him, looked at each other and shook their heads. "I saw her on the couch with Max just now," Xiaoyou said helpfully. "That was about half an hour ago when we all came down here."
He felt blood draining from his face as a cold chill went up his spine and his mind was thinking of the worst. She couldn't have been stupid enough to go outside, he thought. She wouldn't but if she had to, she would. "The dog's not here either," he said. "I think she might have gone outside with him for a toilet walk or something." He raced up the stone steps with his friends following right behind him.
They looked out the window and the snowstorm was in full force. They dispersed quickly and started looking all over the cabin for Katie and Max. Not in the rooms. Not in the main areas or kitchen. She was nowhere to be found. They congregated in the living room next to the fireplace. The magazine she was reading just then was on the coffee table.
"What's that sound?" Shancai asked and cocked her ear. It was scratching of some sort. "It's not mice, is it?" Everyone went silent and listened for the sound. It came again with some whining. "It's coming from the front door!" They all went to the door and it forced itself wide open as the wind came through the cabin. Ximen and Meizuo struggled to shut it again. Max bounded in, covered in a layer of snow, shook the snow off and started barking and, jumping up and down.
Daoming Si grabbed his coat. He noticed Katie's wasn't there. "Katie must be out there," he said as he threw on his coat and zipped it up. "Her coat isn't here and she would not leave this dog alone, not for a moment since we met him. Something is wrong. She should be with Max. I'm going to find her."
"Are you crazy?" Ximen asked and grabbed his friend's shoulder, pulling him back a few steps. "It's snow storming out there. You'll never find her. You'll both freeze to death before you find her."
"I have to try." Daoming Si replied solemnly. He didn't know what else to do. He couldn't leave her to die out there without trying to locate her. He would not succumb to cowardice and leave her tonight, even if he died trying. A Daoming would never allow it. His sister would be disappointed in him if he did. "Try to get some help if I don't return. At least bring home our bodies." It was a bad thought.
It was Shancai's turn to grab him and she had tears in her eyes. "Don't be stupid," she cried. "You have to come back with her. You have to! Don't you dare give up. You hear me?" Xiaoyou tried to hold back her friend.
"I'll do my best." Daoming Si told her and opened the door again, inviting the howling wind in. "Come on, Max, show me where she is." The dog headed off a few feet ahead of him. It was blistering cold - he couldn't feel his own face anymore. Max kept going ahead then running back to him and repeated this pattern for a while. He was starting to wonder if the dog knew what it was doing. Maybe it was playing. If Max was playing, they were all doomed. He just realised that he didn't think about it but he had just placed a hundred percent faith assuming the dog would take him to Katie. He was beginning to regret it now.
But something came in view: a shadow on the ground. It wasn't moving. Max was bounding through the snow towards it then back at him then it then him. It had to be Katie! Even though he was nearly numb all over, he pushed on as fast as he could in the snow that was waist-high now. His clothes were soaked through and his boots felt heavy. He got to her and she was barely alive.
"Dao-… Si," was all he managed to hear when he turned her over. She was in a foetal position, probably trying to keep warm, but she was frozen in that position too.
"Katie, I'm here," he told her but he could barely hear himself in the blizzard. "Come on. Don't sleep." He managed to pry open her arms and pull them over his back then, with her hitching a piggyback ride, he mushed through the snow with Max following him close by. He had lost track of the direction he came from. He looked around for a slither of hope but it was all dark. Oh great, he thought. Now we are really going to die out here.
He kept on walking anyway. It was tiresome. She was near deadweight on his back and he needed a lot of strength to plough through the snow that was thickening. Suddenly, Max jumped in front of him and barked excitedly. Stupid dog, he thought. Only he can still be in good spirits at this time. We're all dying and he's happy. Max started moving through the snow and didn't turn back. Daoming Si translated it as he knew where he was going, hopefully the cabin or at least somewhere to get out of the storm, and followed him. He didn't have much choice anyway. The air was painfully cold as he huffed and puffed his way through the snow.
A structure came into view. It wasn't the cabin but it was shelter. He entered and shut the door, thankful that the wind didn't come in. It was an abandoned shack. Max was running around inside like a lunatic, knocking things over.
"Max, stop, you idiot!" Daoming Si barked at him in irritation. Max sat down obediently. "Thank you, Max. Your running about is driving me crazy. I need some quiet to think." He felt stupid talking to a dog but he didn't care anymore. Katie didn't say a word since he found her so he put her down next to an abandoned fireplace to check on her. Her face was covered in a thin layer of ice and her lips were blue or purple, the light wasn't very good. Either colour wasn't a good sign. He needed to warm her up quickly.
"Katie, Katie," he called out as he rubbed his hands then placed them on her cheeks. "Katie, wake up. Don't sleep. Stay awake." She stirred. "Okay, that's good, that's good. Stay awake. I'm going to make a fireplace for us." He took off his coat and piled it on her. Then he started scrounging around for the right materials. He needed dry wood and a fire-starter. The wood was in a corner and the fire-starter was in the fireplace. Perfect. He made a fire with shaking hands. While it was burning, he searched the shack for anything that could help keep them warm. There were a few thick blankets.
By then, Max had taken a spot in front of the miserable fire. It would take a while for that to start burning bright and warm. Until then, Katie still felt cold to his touch. He touched her coat and jeans - they were soaked through.
"Katie, Katie," he gently shook her so she stirred, hoping she could hear him. "Don't sleep. Listen to me: you need to remove your clothes. They are wet and cold. You can't warm up quickly enough wearing them. Can you hear me? Katie?" Her head started lolling side to side like a ragdoll. "Katie, wake up!" She didn't open her eyes. She didn't respond to him. "Shit." Without further delay, he started to remove the blanket on her and every piece of clothing: her boots, socks, jeans, windbreaker, jumper, thermals, everything except her underwear. Then, he threw the thick blanket over her body as he removed his soaked clothing as well, down to his underwear.
Shivering violently, he carried her to the front of the fireplace and huddled under the thick blanket with her. He hugged her as close to his body as possible for heat exchange. Her body was still limp but she was were both shaking and shivering as her head laid on his shoulder. He felt himself starting to lose consciousness as the cold overwhelmed him. As he held Katie close and drifted off, the last thing he felt was a body climbing on top of them and the last thing he heard was a canine whimper. Then, it all went black.
His eyes flew open and the brightest of lights blinded him. He shut them again and squinted until his view came into focus. Then he felt something wet, warm and slippery on his cheek. And dog breath. He gently pushed Max away. If Max was here, then he was likely still alive. Katie! He turned to her. She was still lying on his shoulder with the sunlight streaming onto her face through the window above them. He peered closely and saw her breathing. He let out a huge sigh of relief and allowed himself to relax.
Katie stirred and rested her head onto his chest instead, curling up closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand on her head. All was right in the world for a moment, until the darn dog pricked his ears then scurried out of the shack. Shortly after, Daoming Si heard voices and barking approaching the shack and suddenly realised that they were both just in their underwear still!
"Katie, Katie!" he whispered loudly and urgently as he nudged her shoulder. "Wake up! Wake up!"
Too late, the voices were in the shack and standing before them were the boys, Shancai and Xiaoyou. Their worried faces turned to shock and surprise, and the boys started to smirk and grin, to his annoyance. Their footsteps on the wooden floor must have finally woken Katie because she stirred then opened her eyes, rubbed them and sat up. He made sure the blanket still concealed her neck down.
"What happened?" she croaked and looked around her groggily. "Where's this place?" Then, she looked down at herself, the blanket and him beside her. "What the-! What's going on?" she shrieked. "Why am I undressed in an old shack next to you?" She looked completely stumped. Then, it was like she realised their friends were standing in the shack. "Wait, I'm confused. I feel like I've lost a memory - this doesn't make sense."
Shancai started shoving the boys out of the shack. "Come on, guys," she said. "Let them put on their clothes."
Daoming Si and Katie silently reached for their respective clothes and started getting dressed. Before they left the shack, Katie took his arm. "Hey," she said. "I think I remember what happened. I went out to look for Max and couldn't find our way back to the cabin. You came to rescue me and we ended up here. I also think I vaguely remember nearly freezing to death and you were just helping to warm me up, keeping me alive." Daoming Si nodded and she managed a small smile at him. "For what it's worth, thank you for saving me. I wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for you." She slipped her arms around him and gave him a hug.
He returned the gesture. "Katie," he said gently. "I like you. Think about it." He felt her body stiffen when he said those words but she didn't reject him. There, he had said it outright and upfront. It was all up to her now. She pulled away from him, looked up at him and bit her lip. "What's wrong?"
Shaking her head, she turned away and continued her way out of the shack, hobbling again. He groaned. "Women." He jogged up to her and tossed her over his shoulder. She laughed and protested. "You're not walking."
On the way back to the cabin, Daoming Si told the rest the tale of his heroic rescue and Katie didn't argue once.