Alone (13 page)

In the calm air of the barn, he looked around. The horses were in their stalls and several cattle and sheep stood in the open area beyond the stalls. He looked but saw no sign of Jason. He went back out and followed the rope back to the house, pausing every few feet to yell for Jason. Reaching the porch, he stood and whistled and yelled, but he couldn’t hear anything over the howling wind. With a heavy heart, he went inside.

Ralph tried calling several times through the night, but Jason did not return. Ralph dozed fitfully on the couch and awoke several times in fright. He depended on Jason for companionship and didn’t know what he would do without him. The disappearance of Jason was affecting him more than the disappearance of the people. He finally dropped off to sleep. All through the night, the wind screamed.

Ralph woke with a start.

“Jason.” he said looking around the room.

But Jason was not there. He jumped up and headed to the door. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, so he grabbed a coat and hat and opened the front door. As he turned the knob, the door was pulled from his hand to slam open. The wind still hurled biting snow against the house. Visibility was zero and the temperature was well below freezing.

“The wind chill must be horrible out there.” Ralph said as he grabbed the knob and struggled to close the door. He pulled the door shut and began to pull on layers of clothes. Finally he was as bundled up as he could get. He held tightly to the door and slowly opened it. This time he was able to maintain his hold as the wind again grabbed the door. He stepped outside and then leaned against the closed door. He stumbled to the wood pile and transferred several armloads of wood into the house. Each time he went out, he would stop and shout.

“Jason. Here boy!”

With enough wood to last the day now inside, he stumbled around the house to the generator. There was still three quarters of a tank of gas, but he topped it off anyway. He checked the animals in the barn and gave them fresh food. He used an axe to break the ice coating the water troughs and the animals drank greedily from the now uncovered water. He made his way back to the house and fired two shots into the air from the front porch. He stayed out as long as he could, whistling and yelling for Jason. Finally the cold drove him back inside.

All that long day, he watched for and worried about Jason. The snow howled and the blizzard seemed to grow in strength. Every hour or so he would bundle up and stand on the porch and shout for Jason. By the end of the second day, he was hoarse from all the shouting.

Three days later, Ralph awoke to silence. He sat up in bed and looked wildly around the room. At first he couldn’t figure out what was different. Then it dawned on him. He could no longer hear the wind. He jumped up and raced to the front door. Throwing it open he stepped onto the porch. He gazed out at a winter fairy land. Everything was covered by a glistening blanket of snow. The wind had piled the snow in great drifts across the yard. There was no sound. The crisp air bit as he inhaled deeply. The early morning sun glinted from the snow as if it were a white blanket covered in diamonds.

“Finally.” he said as he went back into the house, only to emerge a few minutes later. He was bundled up and he stepped off the porch. The ropes leading to the barn and generator stretched from the banister to disappear beneath the snow. He realized that there must be at least three feet of snow out there and more in the drifts. The shovels were stored in the barn and he had no way of clearing a path except with his body. Holding onto the barn rope, he began pushing his way through the snow. When he finally reached the barn, he was exhausted and soaking wet. In one area, the snow had drifted to over six feet and climbing and pushing his way through that had been the worst part of the trip. Now standing at the barn, it dawned on him that the barn door opened outward. He would have to clear the snow away so he could enter the barn.

“For crying out loud. I don’t have time for this.” he said as he began scraping snow away.

Using the door as a plow and his feet as shovels, he was able to move enough snow to open the door slightly. He wormed through the opening and into the barn. The animals watched as he entered. Once again, he gave them fresh food and broke the ice on their water. The water was still being pumped by the windmill, but it was just a trickle. Enough to keep the water pipes from freezing. At least he hoped it was enough. Grabbing a shovel, he set about making some paths through the snow.

He worked all day and was able to dig paths from the house to the barn, from the house to the generator, up the hill to the windmill and over to the creek. The windmill appeared to have weathered the storm intact and was slowly spinning. The creek had frozen over and he had walked over it several times before he found it. He stood at the top of the hill and surveyed the land below him. Nothing moved as far as he could see. With the exception of the tracks he had made and the paths he had shoveled, the land was covered by an unbroken blanket of snow. The glare from the white fields caused his eyes to water and he had to squint to see. He shouted for Jason several times with no response. He stood on the hill in the slight breeze and searched the surrounding countryside for any movement, any sign of Jason. When the cold was too much and he could stand no more, he then sadly trudged back to the house. He walked around the corner and there sat Jason on the front porch! Ralph stopped and stared and Jason bounded off of the porch barking wildly. He ran to Ralph and jumped up knocking Ralph into the snow. Jason was instantly on him, whining and licking his face.

“Jason. I didn’t think I would ever see you again. Where have you been? Why did you run out like that?” Ralph asked as he hugged the big dog. Jason just barked happily. It appeared that Jason was as happy to see Ralph as Ralph was to see Jason. Together the two romped in the snow.

Finally, Ralph was able to get Jason off of him and stand. He looked intently at Jason and could find no sign of injury.

“Come on boy.” he said. “I bet you’re starving.”

Together they walked up the porch and side by side they entered the house.

Jason made a bee line for his food bowl and Ralph open a can of food. The food was gone in a heartbeat and Jason looked imploringly at Ralph.

“OK. Why not?” Ralph said with a laugh. “Eat as much as you want, my friend.”

He opened another can of food and watched as Jason ate this one a little slower. When he finished licking the bowl, he looked gratefully at Ralph, turned and walked over to the fireplace. There he turned around several times and then dropped to the floor. Within seconds he was sound asleep. Ralph sat on the couch and watched his best friend sleep. A heavy load had lifted off of his shoulders when he saw Jason on the porch. He had given up hope of ever seeing him again. Without Jason, he wasn’t sure that he could make it. Jason was a friend. He talked to Jason all the time and he was sure that Jason understood him. Jason had saved his life several times by warning of danger and Ralph shuddered to think what may have happened to him had Jason not been there. He lay on the couch and watched Jason’s slow even breathing. Jason gave a twitch and whined in his sleep. As Ralph continued to watch, Jason appeared to be running and from the frantic nature of his twitching, Ralph assumed he was having a nightmare and was running from something. He wasn’t sure if dogs could have nightmares, but he knew that they dreamed. And it was logical that if they dreamed, they would have both bad and good dreams.

He finally fell asleep himself and was haunted by nightmare images. He was with Jason and they were both running down a long darkened hallway. There were no doors or windows and they could not see the end. There were bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling and each bulb illuminated a small section of hall. There were dark spaces between each light and here and there some lights had burned out leaving a larger section of the hall in darkness. Each spot of darkness was complete. It was as if each spot was surrounded by something that blocked the light. When they crossed a black section, they immediately lost their sight. Within the space of one step, they would go from lit to pitch black. Another stride or two and they would once again be under a light. Behind them, the lights were going out one by one. The faster they ran down the hall, the faster the lights disappeared behind them. A loud hoarse breathing filled the hall. Jason whined and Ralph tried to suck in as much oxygen as he could. His chest was heaving and his lungs were on fire. He didn’t think he could go another step, but he trudged on. Finally the far end of the hall appeared. There was a closed door blocking their path. As they approached, they door slowly opened for them. Just as Ralph was about to step thru the door, he awoke with a start and jerked to a sitting position. The night was quiet. Jason lay beside him on the couch, his legs twitching as if he were still in the dream and still running.

“It’s all right boy.” Ralph said softly as he gently stroked the dog’s head. Jason’s heavy breathing eased and his twitches stopped. He appeared to be at peace. Ralph adjusted the blanket and fluffed his pillow. He closed his eyes and prepared to go back to sleep. His had crept down until he touched the top of Jason’s head. He reached further and laid his hand on Jason’s head and then dropped off to sleep. Thru the remainder of the night, they slept together on the couch. Ralph’s hand rested on Jason’s head and they both slept peacefully.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

One day Ralph realized that it was December. He decided to put up a Christmas tree. He had always loved Christmas and he and Mandy had decorated the house from top to bottom. He hadn’t been to his old home in a while but he decided that he wanted to use the Christmas decorations from home. When the day cleared, Ralph decided to go and get the decorations.

“Hey Jason! Do you feel like taking a ride?” Ralph said. Jason leapt to his feet and started prancing around the room.

“Let’s ride.”

They piled into the truck and started toward town. The snow was so deep that the truck could not break thru. Ralph had installed a plow on the truck before the first snowflake had fallen and he was forced to use it now to clear the road as he went. The going was slow. After the excitement of the ride had worn off, Jason lay on the seat and slept. Ralph was maneuvering the truck thru a particularly large drift of snow, when he felt the truck begin to tip. He threw it in reverse and tried to back away, but it was too late. The truck continued to lean to the passenger side and Ralph was afraid it would tip over. At last the truck came to rest. Both wheels on the driver’s side of the truck were off of the ground. Ralph had driven into an unseen ditch. The passenger side door rested on the snow. After trying unsuccessfully to move the truck, Ralph had given up. “Looks like we aren’t going to be getting out of this one easily.” He said. He struggled to get the door opened and then called for Jason.

“Come on boy, jump.” He said as he propped the door open with his leg. Jason climbed up to him across the seats. He perched in the open door and then leapt easily to the ground. Ralph had a more difficult time of it, but finally he too was standing beside the truck. They were on an isolation section of road. There were no houses in sight. Ralph shrugged and then pulled a shovel out of the truck bed. Glancing around, he began to clear the snow away.

After a couple of hours of digging, Ralph had removed as much of the snow as he could safely get to. The truck still would not come out of the ditch. Ralph had intended on installing a winch on the truck but hadn’t gotten around to it.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to get her out without help.” Ralph said. He was tired and sore from the shoveling. His feet were freezing and he just wanted to get out of the cold. He surveyed the area. The road ahead was covered in snow. If he went that way, he would have to break a path thru the snow. The road behind was clear but the closest house that way was several miles down the road. With a sigh, Ralph started down the cleared road. Jason stood staring at the truck and then followed Ralph.

The first house they reached had nothing that could help them. They walked the short distance to the next house and went inside. This home had a large wood stove in the front room. As Ralph and Jason walked thru the house, Ralph spied a pile of firewood in a lean-to out back. He carried several arms full of wood into the house and soon had a large fire going. As the room began to warm, Ralph peeled his cold wet clothing off. He pulled several blankets out of a hall closet and wrapped them around himself as he sat by the warm stove. Jason curled up on the floor beside Ralph. As the room warmed and Ralph sat in the darkening room, drowsiness washed over him and he fell asleep. He awoke with a start an hour later and filled the stove with wood. His clothes were steaming as they dried. Together Ralph and Jason searched the kitchen and Ralph was able to make a meal out of canned items he found. He heated the food on the wood stove.

“Looks like we stuck here for the night Jason.” He said as they ate. Finished with the food, they curled up together beside the wood stove and fell asleep. Ralph awoke as the early morning sun filled the room. He dressed in his now dry clothing and searched for something to help get the truck out of the snow. In the small lean-to out back, he found several feet of chain and three come-a-longs. He gathered all of these items but found that they were too heavy to carry the several miles back to the truck. He remembered the toboggan he had seen next door and walked over to the neighbor’s house. He brought the toboggan back and piled all the heavy items on it. He was able to pull the toboggan easily across the snow covered ground. He returned one last time to the kitchen, where he filled a bag with food.

“Let’s go boy.” He said as he left the house. Jason padded over to the road and stood waiting. When Ralph reached the road, he turned in the direction of the truck and they started down the road. A light dusting of snow had fallen during the night and the toboggan slid easily across this. By mid day they had reached the truck. Ralph shared the food he had brought with Jason and when he had finished, Ralph began studying the truck. He was able to wrap the chain around the trailer hitch at the rear of the truck. He stretched out the come-a-longs and found that he could just reach a small tree. He secured the last come-a-long to the tree and began to take up slack. With the chain stretched tight, he walked around and checked the truck. He hopped into the cab and started the truck. He put it in neutral and hopped back outside. Satisfied that all was ready, he slowly put tension on the chain. When he thought the chain would surely break, the truck slid back about a foot. He re-tensioned the chain and slowly pulled the truck from the ditch. Free at last, the truck slowly drifted over the chain and rolled to a stop against a snow bank. Ralph drove the truck forward and then gathered up the chains. He piled all of the items, including the toboggan into the bed. Jason sat in the passenger seat and looked around. Ralph gratefully settled into his seat and let the heater fill the cab with warmth. He put the truck in gear, and began to once again head toward home.