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Knowing that their biggest enemy now was the cold, she grabbed every layer she could find in the car and once the children were well wrapped, she lifted Elsie out.

“My book!”

“But—”

“We can’t leave it, Mummy. It’s precious!”

Arguing would take time they didn’t have (and it was true that she loved that book as much as her daughter did, and not only because it had belonged to her as a child), so Brooke delved into the footwell and found the book.

She pushed it down the front of Elsie’s coat. Maybe it would add insulation.

“You take Poppy,” Matt yelled. “She’s lighter.”

Lighter, yes, but Brooke knew she wouldn’t be able to carry her for long. She could barely keep herself steady in the snow. The whole thing felt hopeless, but she wouldn’t allow herself to give up hope. And she didn’t want her girls to see her giving up hope.

“It’s going to be fine, girls,” she yelled. “We’re going to find shelter.”

Matt shot her a look and she gave a feeble shrug. What was she supposed to say?

We’re doomed.

“I can walk, Daddy!” Elsie shouted, but Matt shook his head as he scooped her up.

“The snow is deep. I don’t want you getting wet and cold.”

“Are we going to walk to that light?”

“Light?” Matt leaned closer to his daughter. “What light?”

“The light over there.”

Matt turned to look and so did Brooke.

“I don’t see a light, honey.”

“It’s there,” Elsie said firmly. “I saw it.”

What had she seen? Another car? Was it coming towards them?

“We should get off the road. That’s the safest option,” Brooke said, but realised right away that all their options were dangerous. The snow had covered everything, layer upon lethal layer. It was impossible to find a “safe” route.

“I saw it again,” Elsie said, and this time she pointed.

Matt squinted through the wall of snow and shook his head. “I don’t—wait—I see it! Good girl, Elsie.”

And then Brooke saw it, too. The flicker of a light a short distance away. And it wasn’t a car’s headlights.

Relief surged through her. Light was good, wasn’t it? Lights meant people.

“Is it a house? What is it?”

“I have no idea, but we’re going to find out.”

But with visibility almost zero, was it safe to walk there?

Poppy whimpered and buried her face in Brooke’s neck. “Cold.”

“I know.” She shifted the child onto her hip. “Matt, we could be walking over a pond. A ditch. Anything.”