“That’s my favorite.” He held her and they stayed that way until her snooze alarm went off. As they put on their outer layers and broke camp, she let feelings of gratitude wash over her. Things were good. Better than good with Drake. They were only a few days from the reindeer ranch, and it looked like everything was going to work out just fine.
The fear rising up inside of her had been a bump in the road and she had no reason to worry. She just had to keep telling herself that, and they’d be fine.
Just fine.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Drake squinted into the snow that flew at him and bit his cheeks. For lack of a better analogy, it looked like they were jumping into hyperspace on the Millenium Falcon. The comparison had come to his mind when he was a kid, and he’d never been able to describe it in any other way. Of course, when you’re on a sled pulled by a magical reindeer, space travel wasn’t as far-fetched for him as it was for other kids. He’d believed anything was possible.
Maybe he still did. Clove loved him and he loved her. Wasn’t that magic?
With the way the snow came at them sideways, and the size of the flakes, they needed to find shelter–fast. Unfortunately, he couldn't see more than ten feet in front of them. The GPS said they were close to a farming community, but their phones didn’t work. He’d pointed them in the right direction and told Felix to find them a place to settle in for the night.
He put a lot of trust in this reindeer.
So far, it’d paid off. Felix was smart when it came to living out here. It was too bad that they didn’t have a herd of reindeer that lived off the ranch, by their wits, somewhere up north. Alaska would work. They could be on a reserve where they were protected from hunters but still allowed to be free. The need to fend for himself made Felix stronger. Maybe that’s why the flying gene had manifested in him and been lost on the ranch.
He’d have to ask Faith about that. She was excited to do a whole workup on Felix’s blood when she could finally poke the guy with a needle.
Drake wasn’t the only one with theories about the flying gene. Faith wondered if the constant medical care the reindeer received, including medications, had altered them. One of her indicators was Rudy, who was born nearly blind. That shouldn't have happened. Thankfully, she’d corrected the issue with surgery, and Rudy was on Santa’s sleigh every Christmas Eve.
But they all wondered why the reindeer changed. Why didn’t they all fly?
“Look out!” Clove yelled.
He leaned heavily to the right. The sled tipped, and they barely missed a tree trunk.
“Felix!” she yelled.
He bellowed over his shoulder:Sorry!
“It’s getting hard for him to see through the storm,” she called up to Drake.
“I know. We need to consider stopping.” He went through their packing list. They had the basics to survive a storm like this, but it would be difficult and Felix didn’t fit in their tent. If they could find a building, or a big tree, that they could at least use to shelter them from the wind, their chances of survival would go up.
Their fun, backwoods adventure was spinning into a really bad idea.
Felix picked up the pace. Drake barely had time to lean right and then left again. “Hey!” he shouted, which was not any command he’d ever taught a reindeer when pulling a sleigh. Felix moved faster and tree trunks blurred past them.
“Hold on,” he told Clove.
“What is he doing?” she screamed.
“I don’t know!” His muscles strained and sweat trickled down his back. If the sleigh tipped over at this speed, it would drag Clove along the uneven ground. She’d be bruised and cut and that was a conservative guess. More likely, she’d be broken in several places.
Maybe the snow drove Felix crazy. People often got lost and went nuts in blizzards. He’d never heard of it happening to a reindeer before, but he wasn't willing to rule it out either.
“Whoa!” he called. “Felix, stop!”
Felix lowered his head and took it to a whole new gear.
Drake’s fingers cramped from holding on so tight, but he didn’t dare let go. “Felix!” He didn’t bother to hide the panic in his voice. “Clove–talk to him.” Maybe she could get through to him.
“Felix! Stop!” she commanded.
Felix took four more bounds and then stopped so quickly they lurched forward and Drake rolled over the top of Clove, tumbled over the sled, and landed in a heap in the reins. “Gah!” he yelled as he tangled in the harness. “Clove! Are you okay?” He’d been unable to stop himself from launching over her and the front of the sled. His side hurt like he’d been punched. His legs ached, but that was from the workout of steering the sled-–leaning right or left and standing for hours on end. His shoulder protested when he lifted his arm. He wasn’t even sure how that happened.
As he lay on the ground between the sled and Felix, mixed up in the leather reins and staring at two large feet, he prayed Felix wouldn’t take off again. He was in a bad place, with no hope of getting out. “Clove! Darlin’ please tell me you’re alive.”
