Chapter 25
Jake
The morning comes with just enough light to see that well over eight inches of snow fell overnight.
What is usually a brilliantly blue sky, is moody and overcast as the snow continues to fall.
You’d think after growing up in Colorado I’d get tired of the snow but I don’t think I ever will.
It’s probably due to the years I spent in California that reinvigorated my love for snow.
Nothing was more magical than that first snowfall when I came back to help Dad, although this one comes close.
Once I’m bundled up I step out into the frigid air.
With the power outage, everything is still.
It feels as if the only thing alive is me and these steadily falling snowflakes.
The world is so quiet for a change that if I stand still long enough I can almost hear the fluffy snowflakes land in the branches of the trees nearby.
Henrietta reminds me that I’m not alone with a short bleat and I go to check on her and the chickens.
I’m pretty sure Henrietta doesn’t like the snow, considering that’s the only time I can easily keep her inside her pen.
Even after opening the door she has no interest in going outside to frolic in the snow.
After she and the chickens are taken care of I glance at the watch on my wrist and see that it is finally an appropriate time to check on Scarlett.
I knew last night before the storm we would lose power.
After almost forty-five years of snowstorms and losing power every single time they are more than four inches, it wasn’t hard to guess.
I also felt pretty confident that Scarlett may not have been as prepared as she let on last night.
Without a wood stove it would be difficult to keep the house warm, and without a generator she wouldn’t be able to cook anything to eat today.
You’d think that after so many years dealing with grid issues the power company would be quick with getting it back on, but unfortunately sometimes just diagnosing the problem is what takes the longest. There’s a chance they have it back on tonight but if we get too much more snow then they may get it back on in one spot, only to lose it in another.
Before I head over to Scarlett’s I grab the snow shovel out of the garage and dig myself a path over to her house.
Walking in eight inches of snow isn’t impossible but it also isn’t fun either.
If she agrees to my plan, then she’ll need to walk over to my house and I’d like to make that as easy as possible for her.
Because I have a feeling that agreeing to accept my help will already be difficult.
Twenty excruciating minutes later and I’m standing at Scarlett’s door, trying to compose my breathing before I knock.
I already feel nervous enough, I don’t need to be huffing and puffing like some beached whale.
Breathing heavy and asking her to come stay at my house, what an impression.
When I finally feel like I can speak without heaving, I lift my hand and knock gently.
It takes a minute to hear any noise behind the door. I lift my hand, ready to knock again when finally I hear a shuffling. The shuffling goes on for an eternity before I hear some muttered curse words and the door finally opens.
Scarlett stands behind the door completely encased in blankets.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing as I try to count how many blankets she has wrapped around her.
If she were to move around in the shadows out in the woods like this, she’d be mistaken for some mysterious creature like big foot.
Her tiny five foot nothing frame is at least six inches taller as the blankets are wrapped around her head like a hood.
“It’s freezing outside, come in here,” she says after I stared long enough to make it awkward.
I step inside her house, one that I hardly recognize anymore.
This is clearly no longer Blaine’s house.
Color has imploded in here on every wall but it works.
Somehow, it feels like her. I rub my hands together because I realize she’s right.
There is zero warmth inside her cottage.
In fact, I can’t explain it but I think it’s even colder in here than it is outside.
“That’s actually what I came over here for,” I finally say. “I’m not sure when the power went out,”
Scarlett interrupts to say, “It was around 2AM.”
“How do you know that?” I don’t know why it matters, what time it was or that she knows what time it was but I can’t keep the question from surfacing.
“Because I was reading and the book was finally getting to the good part.” She says it so normally, as if that should make her being awake at 2AM sound completely par for the course. And I guess maybe for her, it is.
“Alright, well I have a wood stove and back-up generator that I can use sparingly while they fix the downed lines.”
“How do you know it’s downed lines?”
“It’s almost always downed lines with this type of snow. When it’s wet and heavy like this, it is inevitable that it takes a few branches out. Sometimes it can make a dead tree fall on the lines and they have to put it all together before they can get the grid back up. It happens every year.”
“And here I just thought everyone was being extra cautious,” she mutters. “But at least you and Cami have everything under control.” I can’t help but smile, I’m standing in her dining room trying to ask her to come get warm at my house and she thinks I’m just bragging about my wood stove.
“I think you should come over, get warm, get some food. When Blaine lived here, he’d come over and stay in the guest room while they fixed the lines.”
“Oh, that’s kind, really but I couldn’t impose.”
“You’re not imposing, I’m inviting you over.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.”
I took a deep inhale and let it out slowly through my nose.
“Pack a bag of some essentials. I can’t let you stay over here while it's a negative degree wind chill knowing you have no heat and that it could be another day or two before the power comes on.” My voice comes out flat and stern.
I knew she had the chance to be difficult with this but I’m a few minutes away from picking this woman up, tossing her over my shoulder and carrying her over to my house.
“Well, when you put it so kindly,” she fires back. I let out a deep exasperated sigh.
“I did say it kindly the first time.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t in the form of a question. Something about a man telling me what I should do makes me instantly want to repel against it whether it’s actually a good idea or not.” She shrugs her shoulders like she can’t help it. It just is what it is.
“Scarlett, would you like to ride out the rest of the storm with me and Cami in our warmer home?” I say with extra patience.
Her face lights up with a smile. “I can tell that was painful for you,” she says.
“But yes, I haven’t felt my toes in over an hour.
I would love to join you and Cami.” She turns her massively wrapped body around and starts to walk away before she says, “maybe I can teach Cami a few more things.” And I swear I hear a little giggle come from the other side of the huge pile of cotton.
I roll my eyes, hoping I don’t regret putting her and Cami together again.
Standing in the cottage that I no longer recognize, I can’t help but want to know more about this woman.
Nerves strike me as I realize I’ve just invited her to stay in my house for an undetermined amount of time.
Not that I had a choice, my dad would roll over in his grave if he knew I’d let my neighbor freeze to death when I could have helped.
While Scarlett packs I wander farther inside the small home over to the bookshelf.
It has an impressive amount of books on it and I wonder when the last time I picked up a book was.
The truth embarrasses me slightly when I realize it may have been college.
The books are all arranged by color, I’m not sure if that’s all they’re organized by since I have no idea what these books are about.
The titles range from things like, The Sinner, House of Sky and Breath and and then I see a book titled “A Bed of Lavender and Cypress.” I pluck it from it’s spot on the shelf and examine it, thinking it’s likely a book she picked up about farming.
Filippa has been taking care of her family since her parents disappeared a decade ago.
She was only eight years old and the youngest of three.
She hunted and planted a garden and did whatever she needed to do to survive.
One day while hunting she stumbled upon a hidden portal to another world.
A world full of riches, where the poorest beggar on the street still ate and lived better than Filippa and her siblings.
Only trouble is, the portal has closed behind her.
If she wants to see her family again she must find the witch who made the portal and make a bargain for her return.
“Do you really think it could be out for a few days?” Scarlett says as she comes out from her bedroom. She’s lost her blankets and has on head to toe snow gear, the hood of her coat buttoned around her chin, circling her face in faux fur.
“It has been in the past, it certainly could be.” I say while shrugging my shoulders.
Scarlett’s attention is moved to the book in my hand, the one I forgot I was still holding. “Find something interesting?” She says with a smirk.
“Oh, I, uh, thought it was about gardening.” I mutter.
She laughs, a melodic sound that I didn’t expect to bring out of her. “Yeah, it’s dirty but that’s about where the commonalities end.” She winks at me and my mouth goes dry. “But hey, bring it. It’s a good one.”