Chapter One
“Help! Help me! Please.” Jaqueline screamed as loud as she could while her hands frantically scraped at the heavy snow piled in front of her. Please, God, please. Let me find them. Shrieking louder, she added, “There’s children under this pile of snow. Help me.”
With her knees burrowed into the snow, she worked feverishly attempting to uncover any sign of either of the children. Ignoring the discomfort, she kept scraping, digging… yelling. Held back by her fancy gloves, she took precious seconds to whip them off and then used her fingernails like claws, digging into the freezing cold as deep as possible, trying desperately to reach the children she knew had been buried in the now collapsed igloo.
Seconds earlier, she’d watched the two children’s smiles of accomplishment while they worked so hard trying to get the structure just right. And the sight had made her cheer silently.They’d burrowed into the four foot drift, and both had crawled inside.
Stopped in her tracks, she’d observed them from across the way, wishing she was as young and carefree as the two angels playing so happily. The urge to join them had all but brought her to tears. Seeing those small munchkins so happy together and taking such pride in their accomplishment had added to her joy in being in this magical city over the weeks of Christmas. So much so, that Jaqueline had continued to hover nearby, aiming her camera at the scene, knowing how much her gramma would enjoy the pic.
Then the unexpected and unimaginable happened. A thudding sound. Swirls of snow flew into the air. The cave-in blocked the opening as if it had never been there. With so many feet of snow landing on both the little ones, they were trapped underneath. While running across the street as fast as she could, Jaqueline had stashed her phone in her pocket, knowing she’d need her hands free.
Heart beating hard enough for her breathing to be affected, Jaqueline screeched louder this time. “Help. For God’s sake. Someone. Please. I need help. There’s children here.”
Suddenly, a big man skidded beside her. And with both of them digging frantically, he was able to grab at the jacket of one of the children. Still scraping, Jaqueline finally reached the hand of another body and working fast, she uncovered the face and chest, then pulled on the body to loosen her from being trapped. Lifeless, the tiny girl’s eyes were closed, and she wore the look of shock that must have overcome her at the moment of tragedy.
Freeing away as much of the snow as possible around the child’s head, neck, and mouth, Jaqueline leaned in to find some indication that the child was still alive. When she couldn’t find any sign of life, she cleared the little one’s airway and franticallybegan chest compressions and rescue breaths, aiming to keep her blood flowing and get air into the girl’s lungs.
Muttering in her concentration, she whispered, “Come on baby, you can do it. Come on. For Jaq. Do it for me. Breathe.” She kept up the chest compressions rhythmically, knowing it was the little girl’s only chance to live.
Her peripheral vision told her that the man next to her was performing the same kind of help on the boy. She couldn’t make out his soft words but had no doubt they were entreaties similar to hers. When his child began to cough and choke, the sighs and gleeful utterings of the crowd that had gathered could be heard loudly. Then his fierce exclamation of “Yes!” lightened her own fear.
“Your turn, baby. Come on now. Your brother needs you.” She did another round of breaths only to find her own body reacting to the enormous pressure pf the moment. Fighting off her raging adrenaline, she didn’t stop for a second.
Suddenly, the girl began coughing and choking, fighting the restraining hands at first. Then she started to cry. Jaqueline thought she’d never heard a more beautiful sound. Hugging her close, Jaqueline spoke softly, “It’s okay, baby. You’re fine now. Everything is going to be okay. Don’t cry.” Jaqueline sensed more than saw the woman nearby who had grabbed her son away from the man and was now inches from taking her daughter too.
“My babies. I just went to the bathroom for a few minutes. Oh, my God. Thank you for saving them. I-I never thought this could happen. They were fine… I-I I’m so sorry.”
Now both children were clinging to their mother, and all three were shaking from the near tragedy. The smaller of the two… the girl still appeared weak from being without air for longer than her older brother. Minutes later, when the ambulance arrived, the paramedics were insistent that they needed to fully examineher. In the meantime, the boy had left his mother’s arms and followed the stretcher, staying close to the exhausted, near-hysterical little girl.
“Let me help you.” The hero who’d remained nearby basically lifted the frantic mother to her feet and when she almost collapsed, his arms held her upright. Jaqueline moved in close and took the woman’s hands. “Don’t cry. They’re fine now. Do you want us to stay with you until the paramedics are done examining them?”
“Yes. Please. Oh my God, I don’t know what to do. I’m alone here with the kids. My husband died last year from cancer, and it’s just us.”
The male voice coming from the man who’d helped sounded deep but filled with sympathy. “The paramedics said they just want to check her out and make sure there’s no lasting damage. Your boy admitted he could breathe under the snow for a little while… must have been in a small pocket of air. I don’t think he suffocated for as long as she did. Looks to me as if he’s afraid for his sister.”
Leaning against him for support, the mother nodded proudly. “Yes. He’s very protective of her since their dad died. But he just turned six in June, the same month Maisie turned four.” Dropping her face into her hands, the mother cried out, “I should have made them come in the house with me and wait until I could come back outside with them. It’s just that I hate for them to hear me being sick.”
Jaqueline took a closer look at the woman clinging to the rescuer. She’d come from inside in only a light sweater, which means she must have rushed when she’d heard the disturbance. Jaqueline also noticed the woman’s paleness, which could be attributed to her recent scare, but the thin body and the shortness of breath were sure signs this woman wasn’t well.
When she grabbed at her chest, struggling to stop herself from collapsing, Jaqueline knew by the signs that this mother wasn’t just traumatized by the earlier chaos, she was ill. She removed her coat and held it out. “Here, take this. You’re freezing.”
“I-I ran so fast. Mine’s on the floor by the door.”
“I’ll grab it.” The man who’d been supporting the woman let Jaqueline take over for him while he ran to the house and gathered up the fallen garment just inside the door. In no time, he’d returned to help the woman into her own coat and then held Jaqueline’s so she could snuggle in. Once clad again in the warmth, she realized how cold it had been without the protection and secretly blessed him for his thoughtfulness. She smiled her thanks, and he winked his acknowledgement before guiding them toward the ambulance.
Forcing them all to stop walking, the poor woman spoke, “I’m Madam Tremblay. Gisele Tremblay. My son is Charles and my daughter is Maisie. Please, what’re your names? I want to be able to thank you properly.”
Jaqueline smiled and replied, “I’m Jaqueline Bouchard, here in Quebec City for the holiday. I live in Vancouver.”
The man standing next to her smiled his hello her way then looked at the woman still clinging to him. “I’m Doctor Dale Jones. Sorry we have to meet under such frightening circumstances. But thankfully, it looks as if both the children will be fine.”
“A doctor? How fortunate for Charles.”
“Doctor of Psychology. I’m a professor at the University of British Columbia, here on holiday as well.” Before he could say more, the paramedic looked up from the stretcher where they’d placed the little girl. “Madam, I’m going to bring the child to the hospital for observation. From what I understand, she was buried under the snow for quite some time without air. You can come with us if you like, you and the boy.”
“Yes. Of course I want to come. But I must get my keys and lock up the house. Can you wait for me?”
“It’s been a crazy time here, Madam. Our ambulance is needed on many calls. We must move as fast as we can. We’ll be taking her to Hôtel-Dieu de Québec. It’s the closest hospital in this area of Old Town. If it helps, you can meet us there in the emergency. We’ll take the boy with us too. He refuses to leave his sister.”
