Snow had been falling for several days, slowly piling up and blowing into drifts around the entrance of Thunder Mountain. The crews had gone out and tried to clear what they could from the roads to keep things open but for once, they found themselves unable to truly keep up with it. By the third day of the steady fall of snow, Marcus called off any attempts to keep the roads passable until it let up.
They'd sent messages out to the other towns and members of the alliance that they could be reached by wave but only if an emergency arose. As soon as the weather cleared, all towns would need to work to get the roads open for at least one vehicle to pass on and for foot traffic. But until then, it was advised to stay in town and patrol their own borders until the system passed.
The night of the fifth day of snow, everyone was ready to go nuts with the lack of ability to move about as the snow got deeper. When the guard called in from the main gate asking for Marcus to come topside, Marcus was all too happy to do so. He grabbed Kurdy and Mister Smith on the way as well as Lee, just to get them out for a few moments.
It was a decent stretch of the legs to get to the end of the tunnel. When the doors opened, what greeted them was worth the walk. Thirty people sat huddled on the back of a hay sled, having been pulled up to the gate by a team of four large draft horses. As the guard explained that they had just pulled up out of nowhere. "The driver of the team said that two other teams have been searching the roads for stranded travelers and one is headed to Millhaven with twenty-seven people and another is going to Crete with eighteen."
Kurdy had walked over to the team of draft horses, knowing that he was at all man but these horses made him look small in comparison. They seemed in good spirits and when he got to the drivers seat on the hay sled, he recognized the hat before he recognized the bundle of coat and scarf sitting in the seat.
"Hey! Mal! Good to see you!" he shouted and lifted a hand up to her.
She clasped it, using her other hand to pull down her scarf, "Hey-ya Kurdy. So this be the Mountain that Thunders, eh? I bring you 'gifts'." She said a bit teasingly. There were several chuckles from those bundled up in blankets and amongst hay on the back of the sled. "A bunch of snow-fish. Floundering around like colts in their first snow." She teased a little, calling over her shoulder at them. Several laughs and snorts followed but no one seemed upset.
Kurdy waved Marcus over, "Marcus. Remember when we told you about the Horse Tribe we ran into and got all that gas from to get back here? Well this is Mal." He looked up at Mal, "Mal, this is Marcus, our leader here."
Marcus came over and looked up at her, then held up a hand. "I can't express how much we appreciated your assistance. And now it seems we owe you again for helping people out of this predicament of bad weather."
She looked at Marcus, then smiled widely and clasped the offered hand. "So you're the 'Chief' of Thunder Mountain. Good to meet ya." She paused a moment, still looking at him as if unable to look away. Kurdy noticed Marcus was in the same predicament. He cleared his throat after a long pause.
Mal broke the handshake. "So, you able to take these snow-fish off my hands? Got some feed or something to give the horses something other than hay to offer thanks?" she asked. "We still have another twenty miles to search for any other stragglers." She stated.
Marcus blinked and nodded, "Yeah, sure. We can take them in." He looked at the guard, "Call in to Aaron and tell her that we need places to put thirty or so people and to send up four buckets of our collection of today's uneaten vegetables and parings." He turned then to look at Mal, "They won't mind eating peelings and cores and such? We have quite a bit. Nothing spoiled since it's all from today. There might be some pieces of bread and such in them."
Mal smiled brightly, "Wonderful. They will be appreciative of what they can get." She hooked the reigns up and jumped easily down into the snow and came around to the hay wagon, removing several of the bundles of hay. "Come on snow-fish. Time to swim free." She teased.
Lee and Smith began helping them down off the hay sled and onto the ground. Kurdy began directing people into the tunnel as the guard called inside for several people to receive them at the end to get them situated. Mal began walking around each of the horses, talking quietly to them, checking their hooves and legs.
Marcus walked with her a little as she threw blankets over each one for the time being. "So…do you need to come inside for the night with the team? We can put them up along with you."
She looked at him and he noticed the twinkle in her eyes as if she was finding something quite funny about what he'd said. "No, we are well. We have more roads to search. Night is easier to search since most people will have fires going and we can see the light of them."
Marcus nodded a little, "But won't it get colder once the light fades?"
She adjusted a strap or two as one of the big drafts nibbled the brim of her hat. She said something at him and he stopped, tossing his head slightly. They practically dwarfed her small frame. "Naw. Not by much. As long as it keeps snowing, it means the temperature is still tolerable. It isn't until the wind picks up and it stops snowing that you have to worry."
By the time she was done checking all four of the horses, two soldiers came out of the tunnel, each carrying two pales of food. Mal smiled and went up to one of them, taking a bucket. She then motioned to them and to Marcus. "Just hold the bucket up to their mouth's and they will do the rest. Best if they all eat at once so there's no bickering over one eating while the others don't."
Marcus and the soldiers took the hint and each approached a horse with a bucket and held it up to them. The horses smelled the food and quickly shifted, trying to get to the buckets until they were positioned for them to eat easily from. The sound of crunching and munching could be heard coming out of the buckets as the horses enjoyed the full treat of the different items in the buckets from cabbage leaves to pieces of bread. As each finished, Mal came around and checked up on them.
She slowly withdrew the blankets and folded them up before tossing them into the seat where she would sit. She then pulled out four sets of bells and strapped them to the horses pull harnesses, letting them chime a little. "Well, we'll be off. Ya might want to warn Millhaven and Crete that they are going to be getting company. All three teams will make another pass along roads and such, looking for stranded snow-fish. When we're done, we'll need to be put up for a few days. Most of us have feed for our teams but things like what you just fed them will be most welcome also."
Marcus came up to her as she was heading around to the sled drivers seat. He held out a hand again, "Thank you for helping them. I'm sure that the efforts of the three teams have saved many lives." He stated.
She took off a glove and shook his hand, looking him in the eyes. "Chief…you might want to stock up on supplies as much as possible before the next two weeks. This winter will only get worse and not just with the weather. Once my teams have rested, we can be used to take people and supplies between the three towns or other outposts."
He stared at her for the longest time and then nodded, "Thanks for the warning. I'm sure that we can definitely put your teams to good use and we'll do what we can to make the horses comfortable while inside." He said, smiling a little at her, almost shyly before he finally let go of her hand.
She climbed into the drivers seat as Mister Smith came forward and handed her up a cardboard box. "They brought you up some food and a medical kit, just in case." He pointed to Lee who was dumping a load of blankets on the back of the sled, "Blankets too for those you find that might need an extra one or two."
Mal smiled brightly at the three men as she pulled up her scarf and put gloves back on her hands. She gave a form of a salute off the brim of her hat and whistled to the team as they slowly turned the sled around and with a light flick of the reigns, they began to take off at a decent trot, hooves thudding on the snow they were packing down. The harnesses jingled and jangled like the old familiar sound associated with Santa and Christmas.
Those still outside watched until she was no longer visible but the sounds of the bells could be heard still amongst the trees. The guard was changed over and the rest went back inside, the doors slowly closing behind them.