JOURNEY TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN
James Sheldon
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
Book 1 of 3
Chapter 28
Day three in the “haunted” wood with no sign of anything but the same—a snowy maze in which one could scarcely see further than a stone’s toss in any direction. Looking up in hope of visual relief did not reveal an open sky, but only small patches of drab gray between crowded limbs. It seemed almost impossible, and yet life went on, mostly out of sight. The brown hares had turned white to hide from the lynx. The lynx had changed its color to sneak up on the hare. Each animal had its way. Some made themselves part of the maze. Others burrowed down to ride the winter out. Some stuck it out with pure ferocity like the wolverine, and its equally ferocious cousin the fisher cat.
“I’m sorry we haven’t found you much to eat,” said John, stroking Ellie’s neck in an effort to calm her hunger.
Tiredly, Emma came alongside and joined in, “She’s proving what you said [about her] to be true, John.”
Pursing his lips tight, Summerfield glanced to the path behind with pained eyes—a path they had hacked out one mile at a time. Then, turning to Emma, he forced a smile, “At least we had a gentle start to winter. Otherwise, I doubt she’d have any reserves left at all.”
“She’s lost a lot of weight since entering the wood,” Cody put in worriedly.
Ellie had been losing weight since the beginning of their journey, albeit slowly. Now, with very little grass to eat while pulling the heavy sled through a tangled wood in freezing temperatures, her loss had accelerated to become painfully obvious.
“If only we could find even a small glade for her, it would…” Emma cut her speech short, seeing Mia and Laureal returning with the twins, having taken them for a bathroom break.
Gleaning the conversation, Sophie protested while her mother secured her in her seat, “Horsey shouldn’t have to carry us without eating.”
“Horsey is still plenty strong,” her mother assured. And back to work they went, chopping and hacking, knocking away snow, clearing debris, keeping the sled upright on uneven ground, and crossing fallen logs when necessary.
Without the ability to see distance, John could not use landmarks as directional aids. Thus, he brought his compass out regularly to keep his heading. A few paces ahead of John and based on his compass readings, Laureal looked for the route of least resistance. In such a way, they wove even as they kept their path as straight as possible. Difficult though it be, they doggedly continued until, halfway through the afternoon, they came to a rocky crag—not a ravine but a rift, like a fracture in the earth—it angled down some eighteen or twenty feet through a hodgepodge of rock shelves and bushes under a blanket of snow.
Side by side at its edge, the newlyweds could see the crag was more of the same on the opposite side, rising from bottom to top.
“Damn it all,” gazing on the daunting obstacle.
“John, please don’t curse.”
Cody came next, shaking his head, “Damn.”
Laureal turned from Cody to John, “You see what you’ve done, John. He’s picked it up from you!”
“I apologize,” yet looking into the crag.
“No John, that’s not going to work this time. I’m on to your ‘I apologize’ tactic. If you truly meant it, you would stop doing it.”
“It’s not a tactic,” his tone annoyed.
“I’m not asking that much of you, John. I just…
“You’re not asking ‘that much?’” John echoed. “Outside of what…all of this?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” angry at being cut off, raising her voice.
“Just what I said!” semi-shouting.
“Oh, so now you’re blaming this on me?” And shouting at the top of her lungs, “I never wanted to go this far north!”
“What’s the problem up here?”
“I won’t tolerate his foul mouth, Mother.”
Cody gestured to the crag, “Personally, I can’t say I blame him.”
“You stay out of this!” Laureal warned.
Emma came next and, looking into the rift, let out a sigh, “Well, at least now I know we’re not on the path.” And looking up and down the way, “Problem is, I have no idea if the crossing is a stone’s throw that way or five stone throws that way.”
She then turned to the newlyweds, “It’s been a difficult few days. We are tired out, and this wood has us feeling caged in. And not to make light of things, but under the circumstances, perhaps this crag appears worse than it is. After all, we should be able to find a place to cross with a little scouting. What say you, John?”
“I concur. I will do the scouting.”
“Granddaughter, what say you?”
“Whatever way he goes, I will go the opposite.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” John ordered.
Scowling, Laureal held her tongue in the knowledge that Emma would not allow her to go scouting alone anyway.
“John, do not go out of earshot,” Jessie cautioned, to which Emma added, “In these woods, with all this snow soaking up our voices, I would say no further than four stone throws.”
“Agreed.”
“While John scouts,” Mia began, “we can build a fire. Jessie, Laureal, Cody, and I can hunt in teams for grouse and squirrels, and look for nut stashes.”
All understood Mia’s thoughts. Without a campfire, they had to keep moving to keep their blood flowing or face the deadly danger of becoming chilled. Not only that, but in such cold they had to consume large amounts of calories to keep from starving. And because they were getting low on food stores, looking for food was only logical for all but Emma, who could remain at the fire, guarding the children with rifle and animals.
Emma turned to Laureal, “Granddaughter, I want you to forgive John before he goes. And John, I want you to forgive Laureal. To borrow a term from you, John, the two of you are the same in that you both ‘chomp at the bit.’ John, you chomp and curse. And Laureal, you chomp and push. Men will be men, and women will be women, and all are only human. So let it go because, in this place, we cannot afford less. And John, not to take sides but, for future reference, it is a better habit to ask help from the One who made all this than to curse what he has laid before you.”
Struck by the Matriarch’s final words, John looked at Laureal, and she at him. Neither spoke a word initially. At last, when they forgave one another, their words were not all that they could have been, and yet, the look in their eyes told Emma all she needed to know. The young couple, though currently on one another’s nerves, would get past it.
