Patricia Davids - Shelter From The Storm

“Bad enough, but I think I’ll live. Are you okay?”

“A few bumps and bruises.” His right arm hurt where he had braced it against the dashboard, but it was likely a strain and nothing more. He was a little surprised she had asked.

Turning to the driver, Gemma touched his shoulder. “Dale? Dale, are you okay?”

He moaned and sat back, raising a shaky hand to his head. “I’ll get back to you on that. What happened?”

Jesse rubbed his shoulder. “The good news is you missed the moose. The bad news is that you struck something else.” The front end of the truck was tilted up at a fifteen-degree angle.

“Anybody hurt?” Dale blinked rapidly as he tried to focus.

“Gemma thinks her foot is broken. I’m fine. How about you?”

“Other than an aching noggin, I think I’m okay.” He pushed open his door and looked down. “Wow. This is not good.”

Dale turned off the vehicle, got out and squatted to look under it. His expression told Jesse he wasn’t happy with what he saw. Jesse had to force open his door to get out by hitting it with his aching shoulder several times. Gemma stayed put. Her foot had twisted under her awkwardly when she was thrown to the floor. Jesse’s arm had kept her face from smashing into the dashboard.

Jesse and Dale conferred outside. Dale took out his cell phone and held it up, turning from side to side. He slipped it back into his pocket and came to the open driver’s-side door. “Do you think you can walk, Gemma?”

She shook her head, turned sideways and lifted her legs onto the seat. Her right ankle was twice as big as her left one. She peeled down her stocking and hissed at the pain. Her ankle was already turning black-and-blue. “I doubt I can stand on it, let alone walk.”

Dale scooped up a handful of snow and held it against the bump on his head. “This truck isn’t going anywhere. The front tire has busted loose, and the body is high centered on a boulder. It’s going to take a tow truck to lift it off. The problem is, I don’t have phone service in this spot.”

“What are we going to do?” Gemma looked around them at the thick forest.

“We’re gonna have to hoof it to where I can get cell service and call for a tow truck. Maybe we can fix a crutch for you.”

She shook her head. “I’ll wait here. Even hobbling, I’d only slow you down.”

Jesse glanced from Dale to Gemma and back to Dale. “I don’t think we should leave her by herself. I could go, and you could stay here.”

Her eyes widened, and she gave a tiny shake of her head. “I’ll be fine alone for a few hours.” Her smile was half-hearted at best.

He pulled a large blue handkerchief from his pocket, packed it full of snow and handed it to her. “Put this on your ankle. It will help the pain and swelling.”

“Danki.” She took the compress from him and placed it around her lower leg.

Jesse turned to Dale. “I’ll stay with her. Are you sure you are up to the hike?”

Dale managed a lopsided grin. “Fortunately, I have a hard head and my legs are fine.” He blinked hard as he stared at his watch. “It’s only a little after nine. I don’t think we drove much more than ten miles, do you?”

“If that far.”

“Even if I have to walk all the way to the highway to get service, which I know I won’t have to do, I should still get back with some help before two o’clock.”

“We’ll be fine.” Jesse tried to decide which would be more uncomfortable, waiting in the cold for Dale’s return or sitting beside Gemma in the truck for an unknown number of hours.

Dale reached under the seat and pulled out a moth-eaten green army surplus blanket. “This should help keep you a little warmer.” He shook it out and handed it to Gemma. She spread it over her legs. Her thin socks and low-cut walking shoes were suited for winter in Florida, not for winter in Maine.

Jesse looked up at the sky. “At least the snow has stopped.”

“For now,” Dale said. The men exchanged worried glances. They had watched the local forecast on the TV before leaving the motel. They were calling for more snow and the possibility of a blizzard in the coming days.

“Is it safe for you to walk? What if you get lost?” Gemma asked and nibbled at the corner of her lip.

Dale winked. “I’ll be fine. All I have to do is follow the tire tracks back the way we came.”

Dale sent a speaking glance to Jesse and jerked his head toward the rear of the vehicle. The men walked to the back of the truck to converse out of earshot. Dale pulled his gloves from his pocket and put them on. “It’s going to get real cold for her just sitting. Use the heater for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. The truck has enough gas to run all day if you don’t waste it.”

“Right. I’ll take care of her.”

Dale patted Jesse on the shoulder. “I know you will. What I’m saying is, get her talking. That way she’ll have less time to worry about her situation. Women need more reassurance when things go wrong.”

That hadn’t been Jesse’s experience. The women he knew handled the unexpected as well if not better than most men. “I’ll do my best.”

“Make sure to keep the muffler clear of snow when you run the truck. I don’t want to come back and find you passed out from carbon monoxide poisoning or, worse yet, dead.”

“I know what to do.”

“Okay, see you soon.” Dale staggered a few steps before Jesse caught up and steadied him.

“Maybe I should be the one to go.”

“I’m fine. You know as well as I do that the bishop and her father would much rather a fine, upstanding Amish fellow stayed with her instead of a not-so-upstanding non-Amish guy like me.”

He was right, but Jesse hated to admit it. “Okay, go.”

Jesse watched Dale as he walked off until he was out of sight, then he returned to the pickup, praying Dale could make good time in getting them help.

* * *

Gemma pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders. It was growing colder. She studied Jesse’s face as he got in the truck beside her. “You look concerned. Are you worried about Dale?”

“I’m sure he will be fine. Gott is watching over him.” He tried to make his words sound encouraging, but he missed the mark.

It was clear he was concerned for his friend. She could only offer him small comfort. “You’re right. I can pray for him, even if I can’t do much else.”

Jesse nodded to her foot. “How is the ankle?”

“It hurts, but I will be fine here. If you hurry, you can catch up with Dale. I know you’d rather go with him.”

“Can you turn on the heater?”

She lifted her chin. “Of course I can.”

“Do it.”

She stared at the unfamiliar array of gages and knobs until she found the word heat . She pushed the slide over, but nothing happened. She glanced at him sheepishly. “Okay, how does it work?”

“The truck has to be running.”

“That means turn the key, right?”

He nodded. She grimaced as she scooted behind the wheel and turned the key. Nothing happened. “What am I doing wrong?”

“Probably a loose battery wire.” Getting out, he moved to the front of the vehicle and lifted the hood.

“I’d like to know how he expected me to figure that out,” she muttered. How often did battery cables come loose?

After a few minutes, he stepped to the side. “Try it now,” he called out.

She did, and the engine roared to life, startling her. She pushed the slide over to High. The air came blasting out of the vents. Jesse walked up to the open passenger’s-side door. She turned the knob the other way and the flow of air died down. She looked at him, knowing he was testing her, and she was failing miserably. “It’s just blowing cold air.”