Wind rushed through the pines with enough force to shake loose branches and throw frozen powder against the cabin windows. I had been checking the lower fence line because Copper had begun favoring his left hind leg, and I wanted to make certain no damaged timber could injure him if he wandered.
I carried a lantern beneath my coat, though daylight had already begun creeping through the clouds.
Then I heard the sound.
A horse's frightened cry.
It came from the ravine north of my property.
I stopped walking.
For a moment, I thought the wind had distorted the noise.
Then came another cry, followed by the terrible grinding sound of wood breaking.
I turned toward the ravine.
"Lord above."
Nobody in their right mind would be traveling that route in January.
The path wasn't wide enough for an ordinary wagon, and the snow had buried the lower crossings days earlier.
I hurried toward the sound.
When I reached the ridge, I saw the remains of a small reinforced sleigh tilted against a fallen pine. Its runners had snapped, the front harness had twisted around a broken tree limb, and a bay mare struggled weakly on the snow-covered slope.
The mare was exhausted.
Steam rose from her body.
One leg was trapped beneath the damaged harness.
Behind the sleigh's torn weather covering, somebody was moving.
I scrambled down the bank.
"Easy, girl," I whispered to the horse. "Easy now."
She trembled as I approached.
I loosened the tangled harness, examined her leg, and freed it from the wooden runner. She tried to stand but collapsed again, breathing heavily.
I couldn't leave her.
But the movement beneath the sleigh covering had become more urgent.
I stepped around the damaged frame.
"Anybody in there?"
A faint voice answered.
"Please."
I pulled back the frozen canvas.
And there she was.
A young woman wrapped in heavy wool blankets, seated inside an unusually wide compartment built into the sleigh.
Her cheeks were pale.
Her lips had begun turning blue.
And her beautiful brown eyes struggled to focus on my face.
Her body was enormous, much larger than I'd expected, and the compartment had clearly been constructed specifically to carry her weight comfortably. Broad wooden supports reinforced the floor, while padded side panels helped keep her secure during travel.
She was shivering violently.
"Don't try to move," I said.
She attempted a faint smile.
"That shouldn't be difficult."
Despite the circumstances, I almost laughed.
Then her expression changed.