Free Blizzard: Colorado, 1886 by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale Page B

sorry.”
    Maggie didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Standing hunched over, she spread her father’s bedroll close to the fire. She untied her flannel shirts and draped them over a bough near the fire to dry. Then she sat down.
    â€œTake your boots off and make sure they get dry tonight,” Maggie told Hadyn. He nodded and she untied her own shoes, tilting them up at the edge of the fire with a thick stone placed beneath the heels. She took off her socks and hung them on some twigs she’d shoved into the heat-softened ground close to the fire. Hadyn watched, then copied her. After a few minutes, Maggie stood up to go get more firewood. The snow was coming down even harder.

    â€œHadyn.”
    He could hear Maggie, but he didn’t want to answer her.
    â€œHadyn?”
    He rolled away from the sound of her voice. He curled up, wincing at the soreness in his muscles. For a few minutes there was blessed silence, and he drifted back toward sleep.
    â€œHadyn!”
    This time her voice was too loud to ignore, but still he tried. His whole body was weary. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He didn’t want to move. In spite of the fire, he had been cold during the night; he hadn’t slept much.
    â€œHadyn!” Now she was shaking him gently. “Hadyn, are you all right?”
    He gave up and opened his eyes. “What?”
    â€œYou have to get up. We can’t stay here.”
    â€œWhy not?” Hadyn sat up slowly in the bedroll. It hurt to move, and he winced again. Maggie had built a little fire. He could see the snow still falling beyond the shelter of the krummholz branches. More than anything, he wanted to lie back down, cover his face, and go back to sleep.
    â€œI’ve been thinking,” Maggie began. “If we head straight east, I think there’s a good chance—”
    â€œLeave me alone.” Hadyn lay back down. If they were going to die in these cursed mountains, whatdifference did it make whether they moved on or stayed where they were? At least here they were a little warmer. He heard Maggie get up and he opened his eyes. She looked pale and weary, and she was scowling at him.
    â€œYou’ve caused enough trouble, Hadyn.”
    He shook his head angrily. “I already apologized to you. I’m sorry your father got hurt, but it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t want to come here. I—”
    â€œI’m going to get back home,” Maggie interrupted him. “I am not going to carry you, or stay here and freeze with you, or even spend the rest of the morning talking you into coming with me.”
    Hadyn stared at her as she opened her knapsack. She pulled out a flour sack and reached inside it. “I’ll leave you some food, but I’m going to eat before I go.” She glanced up at him as she lifted a hunk of dark red meat from the bag. She pushed the slim, sharply broken end of a pine branch into the meat and propped it over the fire.
    Hadyn felt his stomach cramp and his mouth flooded with saliva. He sat up again, gasping at the sharp pain in his muscles.
    Maggie was watching him. “Sore? It gets betteronce you’re up and moving. Here.” She handed him the canteen. “The coffee is gone, but I melted some snow for water.”
    Hadyn drank. There was still the faint taste of coffee. The water was delicious, and once he started drinking it was hard for him to stop.
    â€œSlow down or you’re just going to get sick,” Maggie cautioned. Hadyn lowered the canteen. She reached out and took it back. “I don’t know what you’re going to do for water, but I can’t leave this. You might be able to keep the fire going and find a dish-shaped rock to melt more snow.”
    Hadyn stared at Maggie. “You can’t just abandon me here.”
    She looked up. “I’ll leave you the bedroll. If I can find your bag on the way down, I’ll use your clothes