Free Ice by Lyn Gardner Page A

storage shed at the back of the house wouldn’t have given them much protection, she nonetheless rammed her shoulder against the door, her instinct to survive stronger than it had ever been. But the lock was far too strong, and Alex had grown far too weak. Dejected, she slowly returned to the front of the cabin, and sniffling back a tear, she limped down the steps to retrieve the woman she had left in the snow. With her last ounce of energy, Alex carried Maggie to the porch, and slumping to the floor, she pulled her near. Propping the flashlight between them, Alex aimed it at the small overhang above their heads. She had no idea how long the batteries would last, but knowing that permanent darkness would come soon enough, she welcomed the muted light reflecting down on them.
    Up until that moment, Alex had never thought about her own death. If she had been ill or weak, perhaps it would have entered her mind before now, but healthy and young, death had always seemed so distant and foreign. As she sat on the porch slowly freezing to death, Alex couldn’t help but ponder her demise. Would it be warm and peaceful? When the cloak of the grim reaper covered her, would a bright light suddenly appear to guide her to Heaven? Would she struggle with her last breath or simply slip into the afterlife with the ease that comes from faith? Would Maggie die first? Jolted by her last thought, she shook her head at the flood of macabre questions. Pushing them away, Alex turned her attention to their executioner…the storm.
    As her hope of survival faded away, her senses grew keen. Even though she had walked through a forest for over an hour, Alex hadn’t noticed the fragrance of pine in the air until just then. It reminded her of the wreath she had hung on the door to her flat at Christmas, and the tree, tall and proud, she had admired in her parent’s lounge six weeks earlier. A smile appeared on her face as she remembered Christmas day with her family, and then it disappeared just as fast when she realized that it had been her last.
    With a sigh, Alex closed her eyes, and as if on cue, the wind slowed. The night grew silent for a moment, almost peaceful, but then the symphony of the storm began to build again. Ice and snow pinged and skittered across the porch as the wind grew strong, and in the distance she could hear the faint strain and crack of branches losing their fight against the torrents of air crashing their way through the timbers. The cacophony was deafening.
    A brutal gust of wind whipped across the porch, and Alex’s eyes flew open. Squinting against the sting of it, she tugged Maggie closer, trying to share what little warmth she had left, but it was pointless. She could see that the snow had begun to creep over them like a white plague, and its goal was simple. Steal their remaining heat and turn them to ice.
    Taking a ragged breath, Alex’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the woman in her arms. She had always longed to hold Maggie close, and now she would hold her for eternity.
    Noticing a delicate gold chain around Maggie’s neck, Alex pulled it from underneath her sweater. Smiling softly at the tiny gold cross dangling from the intertwined links, Alex began to pray. There was nothing else to do.
     
     

 
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    A tear rolled down Alex’s cheek. Nearing total exhaustion, she knew that when she finally closed her eyes, she would never open them again. A kaleidoscope of images and thoughts invaded her mind. Allowing herself to accept the inevitable, she took a deep breath and made peace with God.
    Lightly kissing the top of Maggie’s head, Alex took a deep breath and slowly let the air empty from her lungs. Her head nodded forward as she allowed sleep to take hold, but then a thought popped into her head. Opening her eyes, she glanced at the religious symbol around her partner’s neck.
    “Son of a bitch,” Alex said, staring at the tiny religious symbol. “ Son of a bitch