Nature and Crime: The Blizzard
Have you ever been completely out of your element, alone and trapped, due to a blizzard?
I am, right now.
I had an interview Friday morning and they asked me to stay the night to meet more employees. I am at a private school and I am interviewing to be the Infirmary nurse. Sounded like a fat job, but I didn't know about this blizzard stuff.
All of the interviews were done and I have the job and should have been excited, but the place they gave me until the roads cleared wasn't not very soothing. It is a two story white structure, divided by locked doors for the two floors. It was pitch black when I arrived by foot, frozen in my flannel shirt and jeans.
I unlocked the side door and hit the light switch and a dim bulb flickered at the top of a long flight of stairs. Holy crap! I went in so I wouldn't freeze to death, but there was no heat, I had been warned. I would need to make a fire.
First I had to search the place. I locked the flimsy glass paneled door behind me and ascended the steep stairs, slipping frequently due to ice embedded shoes. I was shivering so hard I felt my teeth would break.
I hit a switch in the hall and fluorescent bulbs lit the length. Brightness! Now that is better. I went from room to room and turned on lights making sure they were empty and then headed to the living room to light the fire. It took awhile and they lost all their outdated magazines, but soon I had a roaring fire and felt half human again. I was dripping wet from ice and snow, but had no extra clothing.
I stripped the linen closet and hung my clothes to dry in front of the fire as I wandered to the kitchen in search of, well, anything. My mummy wrap and shawl were a hindrance, but necessary.
The fridge was off, so no food there. The water was clear and cold, so I would have fluids. I found saltines and soup and even a saucepan. I took my feast to the fireplace and ate.
The heat, inside and out, had me quite drowsy, so I dozed and then slept fully on the hearth rug.
Strange sounds awakened me with a start. Air in the pipes? No. I dressed in my now toasty warm clothes and put my damp shoes back on. I may need to run somewhere.
I heard door knobs turning and then glass break. I decided to hide instead and went to the darkest corner of the living room with my pile of linens. That was coming from the downstairs stairwell.
I had no weapon and my soup pot was across the room. I slid behind the couch and dragged my linens with me.
Heavy footfalls and panting were in the hallway now.
I held my breath and even put my hand over my mouth so as not to be heard if I screamed.
An odd clicking was coming closer, but the footfalls had stopped. I heard snuffling and then a God awful barking began. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.
I felt the couch pull away and then there was laughter. I opened my eyes slowly and was rewarded with a wet kiss from a very large dog and the twinkling eyes of his very large master.
"You must be Miss Stuart! I came to rescue you, but didn't mean to scare you half to death."
"Oh, more than half!" I took his hand to arise and the dog decided to kiss and wanted to dance as well. We soon were untangled, the fire was doused and we headed to a waiting truck with the heat on full blast.
We road on for awhile, leaving campus. "Where are we headed, uh, I don't know your name!" I laughed and so did he, but he had nothing to offer.
He kept driving and I was getting nervous. That deserted white house seemed so inviting right now.
The truck finally stopped, but I saw nothing. How could this be a place? It was pitch black and if you've heard of not being able to see your hand in front of your face, this was one of those moment. I couldn't see anything.
He cupped my elbow with his huge hand and led me. The dog began to woof excitedly and soon a blinding light shone through an obvious doorway. Man that thing must have been sealed hermetically!
Folks were laughing and dancing around a huge fireplace and I realized it was a lodge meeting or something along those lines.
My new boss approached. "Sorry we had to put you in Hill House, but it is just until the roads are cleared." I nodded and smiled.
"You will stay with us, won't you?" He had a strange look on his face.
"Of course!" I had planned to until right this minute. He was kinda creepy, well they all were.
He nodded and walked away. His wife was next, but she led me to a buffet laden with pounds of food. I made a plate and was even given a doggie bag, well, doggie box, for the weekend. I would be able to eat off the box for days if need be.
What I really needed was coffee. I set my package aside and went into the kitchen. The cook, I assumed from his attire, was in an embrace with my boss's wife. I gasped and looked down.
I pretended to look around. "Is there some coffee in here?" I found the large coffee maker and poured a big mug and left the kitchen, my heart thumping wildly.
Tapping my foot to the music, I pretended all was well. It wasn't. The cook glared at me and even bumped my chair as he passed me. I had to get out of here, out of the white house and off the mountain.
"Would you care to dance?" I looked up into the eyes of one of the counselors I had met. I nodded. I must pretend all was well.
Luckily, it was a slow dance, so we were able to talk.
"How long have you worked here?" I asked him.
"Too long!" He said quietly and smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He looked scared too.
"My name is Sally Stuart. What's yours?"
"Todd. Todd Greenfield. I am the counselor in the teen-aged boys house."
"How long have you been here?"
"About three months and like I said, too long. We need to get off this mountain, by the way."
"I realized that about five minutes ago. Can it be done?"
"Yes. I have a new four wheel drive and even chains on the tires and I want to go for it. I think we should pretend to be smitten with each other and I need you to get drunk, not really, but act it, so I have to rescue you. Okay?" I nodded and smiled up at him.
We headed to the open bar; a plank on two saw horses, but pretty well stocked. I ordered a Seven and Seven and sipped it. We sat next to a large potted plant and I pretended to guzzle my drink, but really dumped most in the plant. Todd went for a refill as we pretended to get into the music. I clapped, yelled 'Yahoo!' and tapped my feet.
When Todd returned, I lurched at him and we were soon on the dance floor again. Heck, maybe they won't want a nurse who gets drunk!
We danced and kissed and we were even getting into it. I let him lead me to the chair and we pretended to be infatuated. I feigned a nap on his shoulder and he helped me up, grabbed my take-out food and told the crowd he would take me to Hill House. They all nodded and I gave a weak and simpering smile to them.
"I think I drank too much! Shh!" I said in a slurred manner. Some laughed.
Once in the truck, I still played the slumped over drunk, but we spoke clearly.
"What is going on up here?" I asked.
"The less you know, the better, but we need to get out of here. Blizzards are excuses for deaths; accidental deaths."
He drove slowly and carefully and we even went to Hill House. We stoked the fire, put away the food after plugging in the fridge and even made a pallet that looked like I was sleeping in front of the fire. Finding a fur in the wood box helped to make it look like a human was sleeping there.
We doused some lights to suggest that I went to sleep and he left.
I was actually slid down in the truck seat and we were driving slowly to his cabin, luckily part way down the mountain. He turned into his drive and went to the cabin and performed the same machinations we had before. We packed some items for the trip and waited an hour.
Not a sound was heard except the crackling of the fire. We left and drove away without headlights.
***
The newscaster began, 'We have Breaking News from the the mountains. A truck was found at the bottom of a landslide early this morning. The bodies have been identified as Sally Stuart and Todd Greenfield. They were both employed at the children's home. What a tragic loss for that home, where many accidents occur during these harsh Winter storms.'
No comments:
Post a Comment