“Snow! Snow!”
Behind Clara’s muffler it sounded more like Smo! Smo! but Shannon understood well enough. “I think we should go back to the house. We’ve come a long way. Much farther than I ever intended.” She turned her head to make certain Clara could hear her and missed her footing in a rut in the road. Stumbling, she tried to regain her balance by reaching for Rainbow. The pony shied away and Shannon fell, her ankle twisting sickeningly under her.
“Mishannon!”
Clara’s cry of alarm reached Shannon’s ears, but the only reply she could offer was a whimper of pain. In one hand she still held Rainbow’s leading strings. Afraid the pony would bolt, Shannon held on tightly. She managed to grit out an order for Clara to slide off her pony’s saddle, and caught the child when she obeyed. Once she was certain Clara was safe, Shannon dropped the reins and tended to her own pain, gripping her ankle in both hands. Tears gathered in her eyes as she rocked slightly, trying to concentrate on something besides the hot, searing ache in her foot. The intensity of it nauseated her. “Oh, Clara,” she laughed through her tears. “I’ve really done it this time.”
“Shall I kiss it?” Clara asked helpfully, blinking rapidly to stem her own tears.
“No.” Shannon sucked in her breath as another sharp pain shimmied up her leg. “Thank you, but no. I don’t think it will do the trick this time.”
“Can you walk?”
Shannon gamely tried to rise. “No. Not at the moment at least.”
“You can ride Rainbow.”
“I wish I could, but Rainbow can’t carry me. She’s too small and I’m too large. I don’t want to hurt her.”
Clara slid her arms around Shannon’s neck. “What will we do?”
The question was uppermost in Shannon’s mind also. “I think I will be all right if I sit for a little while. Shall we cuddle to keep warm?”
Clara nodded and fell into Shannon’s lap, spreading out her riding cloak so it partially protected Shannon. “Oh, look! It’s snowing!”
Indeed it was. Shannon did not share Clara’s enthusiasm. She was not at all sure that she would be able to get back to the folly unaided, and the alternative, which was to wait in the open until someone worried about them and came searching, did not bear thinking about. Several large snowflakes settled on Clara’s cape, and Shannon brushed them away, sighing when they were quickly replaced. “I believe we are in need of shelter until someone comes for us.” She hadn’t really expected any response from Clara, so she was surprised when Clara slipped her scarf over her mouth and clearly explained there was a cabin nearby. Shannon was skeptical. “Are you certain?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“But how do you know?” Shannon wanted to believe her but thought it more likely that Clara was confused. How could the child possibly know where they were in relation to any type of shelter?
“Papa showed me,” she explained simply.
“He’s brought you riding here before?”
Clara nodded. “See that tree?”
Shannon followed Clara’s mittened hand as she pointed to a gnarled oak. The trunk was distinctive, having been split by lightning that scored the bark. Not only had the tree somehow survived, it remained a unique landmark. Shannon found herself hoping Clara knew precisely what she was talking about. “I see the tree, darling. Is the cabin far from it?”
“Not so far,” she said certainly. “I could see it when I was sitting on Papa’s horse.”
Shannon rubbed her cheek against Clara’s. “You are beyond everything wonderful. Shall we try to find it?”
Walking was even more difficult than Shannon imagined it would be. She was afraid to let Clara on Rainbow again for fear she could not control the pony. Instead she leaned heavily against the mount and hobbled along while Clara walked beside her. They had gone over one hundred yards before Shannon saw the cabin tucked in the midst of a grove of pines, and she estimated another hundred yards before they reached it.
Snow was falling heavily now, giant flakes that Clara gleefully tried to capture. Shannon was grateful for the diversion. Clara seemed unaware of how often they halted so Shannon could catch her breath and have a moment’s respite. When they reached the beginning of the broken fence leading to the cabin, Shannon told Clara to run ahead and wait for her inside, where it was warmer.
Brandon liftedhis tankard and motioned to Annie that he was in need of a refill.
“A mite early in the day for you to be drinking, ain’t it?” she asked, tossing back her hair as she approached his table. Annie rested her hip against the table and poured Brandon’s drink from a large stone pitcher.
Brandon shrugged off her question. He really hadn’t come to Redheart’s to drink, but it was as good a way to pass the time as any until Annie was free to talk to him. Redheart’s was one of the few places in town that offered lodgings, with or without Annie’s companionship, and Brandon had had no luck establishing that Parker had been to any of the other inns. “Are you finished in the kitchen?” he asked.
“For the moment.”
He nudged a chair away from the table and gestured for Annie to have a seat. “I want to speak with you.”
Annie’s full mouth turned down at the corners. “Just speak?” Her eyes glanced toward the stairs leading to her room.
