While taking a beautiful drive through the mountains, Kate encounters a driving snowstorm. Suddenly, she realizes that the storm has gotten so bad that she must find cover. As she makes to way down the mountain, she comes upon a school bus that's been pulled to the side of the road. When she checks on the bus, she discovers several children awaiting the return of their bus driver, who has gone to find help. She decides that she must try to take the children to safety, so they all pile into her car, and she begins to drive again. A short time later, they come upon a large lump in the middle of the road and realize that it's the missing bus driver who has collapsed in the cold. While she is trying to get the bus driver into her car as well, she falls and injures her head. Two of the children, Tristan and Luc, manage to get the car to their father's home where he tries to help her. Da-or Ravenwood, as he is known by the rest of the world-is a mysterious man, and she wonders where she is and whether she'll recover. Arriving at this place with Ravenwood and his family seems almost predestined. Will she find the adventure and new life that she has been longing for? Only time will tell . . .

Cold from the Inside Out

One Woman's Escape to Adventure and a New LifeBy Violeta F. Sterner

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2011 Violeta F. Sterner
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4269-3932-7

Chapter One

She was lost long before the snow began to fall. She knew she made a wrong turn, but believed it was correctable. It was such a beautiful drive. Winding through the mountains, she crossed no other roads, there were no houses, no people, and she met no other vehicles. There was no cell phone reception. There was no help. She was not alarmed until the snow became serious. It grew heavier as she continued driving. Soon it covered the trees, the bushes, the road, and her car. It was a world of white. Now she was not only lost, she was lost and afraid. She was alone on a mountain road to nowhere in a BLIZZARD!

Stop this, her brain ordered! Panic will not help you. Maybe you should stop. Stop where and for why? There was no help on this road, no one to turn to. Just freeze to death calmly. Don't make a fuss. They say it's just like going to sleep. They say it does not hurt. What do they know? They are not the ones in danger of freezing to death.

What is that up ahead?

Flashing lights – flashing red lights. Maybe there were people. She would be much calmer if there were people. Closer, it was closer now. It was – a school bus – in the middle of the road – in the middle of nowhere – all its flashers going like it was stopping for kids. Maybe it wasn't in the middle of nowhere. It was a school bus stopping for children. Where were the children? Why didn't she see any children? Were they already gone inside? There were no buildings, where were the children? Were the children on the bus? The windows were frosted and snow was collecting in the corners. Was that movement inside the bus? Were there children on the bus?

Driving on was not an option. She rolled to a stop slowly, not too close to the back of the bus. Leaving the car running, she made her way to the door of the bus and knocked - sort of. The door flew open and there she saw a boy. He was a beautiful child and showed no sigh of fear or even surprise.

"Hi, my name is Lucas," he greeted her, "and this is my brother, Tristan."

Another child joined the first and she would have thought she was seeing double except for the eyes. Lucas' were black, shining and dark. Tristan's were green, a glowing green that reminded her of forests and jungles and places that man had not touched.

"Hello, my name is Kate," she responded. "Is everyone OK in here? Where is your driver? How long have you been stranded here?" She rapid fired the questions.

The boys answered them in order. "Yes, we are OK. The driver went for help when the bus died. We don't know how long it's been, but long enough to run out of gas and lose all the heat in the bus."

Kate nodded her head, thinking quickly. She knew they had to leave.

"Do you know where this road goes?" she asked Lucas.

"Sure," he replied. "It leads down to HWY 21, which will take us to the High Valley"

"Is it far to the Valley? Can we make it by nightfall?"

"Don't you know where you are?" asked Tristan.

"No" replied Kate. "I've been lost for several hours, but since I have a car, and you know how to get out of here, I suggest we all go together."

Luc and Trist, for that is already how she thought of them, looked at the other children, who simply nodded to indicate they were ready to go.

"All right, let's see if we can get everyone in the seats without unloading the back. Luc and Trist, I'll need you in the front to give directions," said Kate as she started down the steps.

All the children piled into the car without comment. She counted nine. She had no idea her small SUV would hold that many people, but she was glad everyone fit without hassle or argument.

I could really use a cigarette, she thought as she climbed into the driver's seat. Not now, responded the alternate side of her brain. It's no time to be distracted while driving. Therefore, she eased around the bus and continued slowly down the road. The children were all quiet, grateful for the heat, except for Luc and Trist, who did running commentary on where they were and what was to come. It bounced effortlessly between them as they finished each other's sentences and continued each other's thoughts.

They were on a slight downward slope around a big looping curve when she saw a strange lump in the middle of the road. She thought it must be road kill until Bobby sang out with, "That's John Paul!"

"What is a John Paul?" Kate asked.

"Our bus driver," they all replied in unison.

Kate carefully brought the car to a stop, but again did not cut the engine.

John Paul lay face down, covered with snow. He had been here for some time. Kate searched for and found a pulse. It was slow and weak, but it was there. Luc dribbled a little snow into his mouth and he swallowed as it melted.

They needed to get John Paul into the car. They knew he would be no help to them. Despite their best efforts, he remained unconscious.

Kate repositioned the car to put the front passenger door close to John Paul. With Kate and most of the children working together, they managed to get John Paul levered into the car, at least most of him was in the car. The road was slick. There was ice under the snow. Kate just needed to finish tucking John Paul up a bit and they were on their way.

As Kate attempted to get both his legs folded into, what now appeared to be her small front seat floorboard, John Paul stiffened and spasm after spasm ripped through him. One of his wild swings caught Kate, throwing her to the ground where she landed hard on her left side. She had been so careful, tried so hard not to slip, and then she was falling. The cold bare highway kissed her hip and the side of her head violently. The children all heard her land and feared that something was broken, leaving them stranded again.

Kate moaned and they crowded round her. They knew she needed help, but seemed paralyzed to do anything. When they began to ask questions, they all came at her in a jumble.

Kate was still conscious, which was good. She was in great pain, which was bad. Luc finally took charge of the little group. He was neither the largest nor the oldest, but he was the most stubborn.

They packed snow against her left side, especially her head, to try to manage the swelling. Kate soon began to complain about the cold. Both Luc and Trist considered that a good sign.

"Kate, we know its cold, but it needs to be done. Now we need to know if anything is broken," said Trist.

Kate replied distinctly, "My head is broken." The boys did not know exactly what she meant, but at least she was coherent and responsive. They proceeded to check her for broken bones. The hip and leg did not appear to be broken. She could move them, albeit with great difficulty and pain. Her left arm had somehow escaped the worst of the impact and was moving easily, if not quickly.

"Can any of you drive?" Kate suddenly asked. All the children looked uneasy. Most had bragged at one time or another of their adventures behind the wheel, but none really had any experience and now they had to admit it.

"I can't hear you! Can anybody drive? We are stuck here." Kate prompted a response.

Melissa finally answered, "No ma'am. No one can drive."

"Kate, Kate! Don't go to sleep. That's bad. We could all freeze here. You can't go to sleep"

It came at her loud and quick from all sides while several hands shook her urgently to get her attention.

"Okay, Okay" she sluggishly focused on the faces staring down at her. How creepy. Looked like a funeral with her as the corpse. She needed to move now. Way too creepy.

"Help me up!" Abrupt and clear, this startled several of the children and made them jump.

"That's not really a good idea, Kate. How are you going to drive? You certainly can't walk, and you need rest and ...", Luc argued, but Kate interrupted. "Make up your mind: no walking, no driving, and no flying. Well, we need to get out of here. Driving seems best. I'm too tired for walking. It's too cold, and too slick, very slick for walking." She wasn't really rambling, but she wasn't exactly making sense either. This could be ugly and all the children knew it. Who were they kidding? It was already ugly.

"Help me up!" she said, and they did. Gently and slowly, they got her upright, around the car and into the driver's seat. They tucked in John Paul and everyone else jammed into the back seat, with Luc balanced between the front seats so he could give direction and grab the wheel if needed

Slowly, so very slowly, they moved through the white world. They managed to stay on paved roads – mostly, and not be stuck anywhere. In their efforts to keep Kate awake, they sang songs, took turns telling jokes, and reciting anything they had memorized, but their memories soon ran dry and the car became quiet, but it kept moving. Slowly, erratically, but always moving, they made their way toward – who knew where, but it had heat and food, and a place to sleep. She really needed to sleep.

They were climbing higher in the mountains. "Luc, aren't we going up? Why are we going up?" she asked finally.

"Yes ma'am" he responded promptly. "We have to go a little higher to get to the High Valley."

"What is a High Valley?" Kate asked.

"That's home," came promptly from both Luc and Trist.

"How high is it?" asked Kate

"About 9000 feet," they responded.

"Then why is it called the High Valley?"

"Cause it's the last one on the way up the mountains."

"Can't we go someplace closer?" asked Kate

"It's the closest safe place to where we are," replied Trist. "We'll be there soon if we keep moving."

They kept moving, until Luc finally pointed to what he said was a road and told her it was the last one home.

"That goes into the side of a mountain. Even through the snow, I can see that," said Kate.

"No, it doesn't. There's a gate," said Luc.

"A gate, there's a gate in the mountain?"

"More like a tunnel," said Trist. We just call it the gate because it's easier.

"A tunnel, when we get through the tunnel we'll be in the High Valley?"

"Right," said both boys.

"Just like Alice down the rabbit hole," said Kate.

"Who's Alice?" asked Bobby, looking around the car. Nobody knew, everybody shrugged, and Kate began to laugh desperately.

Through the tunnel they went, and emerged into the valley, or she assumed they were in the valley. It was snowing faster. It was blowing harder. They could have been anywhere.

"Just stay on the road until you reach the house," said Luc. "We're close now. Just a little longer and we'll be home."

"Is this the house?" asked Kate, as the shadow of a building appeared off to her right.

"No, that's one of the barns," said Trist. "We'll pass another one, a bigger one, before we get to the house."

"What do you keep in these big barns?" asked Kate?

"Horses." said Luc.

"We breed horses." from Trist.

"They have really pretty horses," from two of the smaller children.

"There's somebody out there. Look, somebody's moving," said Trist.

"Is this the house," asked Kate?

"No, it's further on, but there are people here. They can help," said Luc.

"We need to keep moving until we stop," said Kate.

"That makes no sense," said Luc. "We can stop here."

"Let her go" said Trist. "She's too tired and too hurt to think."

As they passed the barn, they saw snowmobiles pulled up next to the road and shadowy figures moving around them. The movement stopped as they went past and the children put down the car windows and waved to get attention.

Soon the second barn passed, and still the car kept moving. Slowly and steadily, no sudden stops, no sudden accelerations, no sudden turns, the car finally came to a gentle stop by the front porch.

As the children piled joyously out of the car, talking and laughing, Kate sat watching the windshield wipers work and the snow continue to accumulate.

The snowmobiles returned to the house. Inside it was warm and dry clothes appeared as wet ones were removed. Luc and Trist explained to their father how John Paul was hurt, how Kate found them in the school bus and was hurt saving John Paul, and how she had brought them safely to the valley.

"Whereis she?" Da asked. Tothe rest ofthe world hewas Ravenwood, but to his children, he was Da.

"Where is she?" he asked again. The children realized she was not with them in the house, which meant she probably never left the car.

"She hurt her head badly and she was really worn out when we got here," said Trist.

Da simply nodded and went out to check the car. They watched as he opened the driver's side door, reached in, and turned off the ignition.

"She's still in the car. Why did she stay in the car," Luc whispered. It seemed very spooky that she was still in the car, like maybe something more had happened to her and they just didn't know it yet.

Then Da knelt down to her level and began to talk, so they knew she was still alive. After a few minutes, he reached out and turned her face to him to get her attention. She had remained staring at the snow through the windshield and only now focused on his face.

"Hello Kate. My name is Ravenwood. Do you know who I am?" asked Ravenwood.

"You're the father of Luc and Trist," she replied.

"That's right. You're all safe now. The house is warm and there is room for everyone. Let's go inside."

She tried to move her leg out the open car door, but nothing happened and she just stared at it as if it didn't belong to her.

"Luc told me how you were hurt and Trist says you're exhausted. Let's get you inside." He placed her arms around his neck and lifted her easily from the car.

"Oh. I'm too heavy," she said, to which he chuckled and continued up the front porch steps and into the house.

The warmth surrounded her as soon as they passed through the front door; so warm and her head began to droop.

"No sleeping Kate. You've had a head injury. Mr. Po needs to look at you. No sleeping for now," stressed Ravenwood.

"What's a Mr. Po?" asked Kate.

"We've already been through that," said Trist. "I think she just likes the sound of the question."

Ravenwood sat her in a large chair in the main room and began removing her wet shoes, while Trist brought a towel for her hair. The children spread across the floor in various positions and states or dress. They were comfortable, warm, and munching on something from a large bowl by the hearth. As Kate began to drift again, she felt someone take her hand, someone small.

"Mama, you have to stay awake. Da said so." Kate looked to her left and saw a lovely girl about three years old. She had large green eyes and skin so fair all the veins in the side of her face showed blue through the skin. Her hair was red, not a frizzy bright red, but more like embers in a dying fire red.

"Hello, little woman," said Kate. "What's your name?"

"Brynna," replied the child.

"I like it. It is so soft, flowing, and beautiful. My name is Kate."

"Da says you have to stay awake," said Brynna.

"Ravenwood is your father," inquired Kate?

"Yes. Luc and Trist and Sela and Gabe and me," said the child.

"There are 5 of you? That's a nice crowd," said Kate. Ravenwood came to move her to the kitchen and Brynna wanted to go with.

"I want to help take care of Mama," said Brynna stubbornly.

"I know, but right now I need you to help with the other children while Mr. Po looks after Mama," said Ravenwood. "Can you do that for me?"

"Yes Da. You'll make sure she's all right?"

"Yes Bryn. I'll make sure."

Somewhat mollified, she marched over to straighten the blankets over little Lizbet Hayes while Ravenwood moved Kate onto the kitchen island counter. It was a large island and used to treat injuries, among other things.

"Hello, Kate. My name is Mr. Po," said a voice just behind and to the left of Ravenwood.

Looking over, she saw an oriental man of average size, she guessed about 50, but maybe a little older.

"I'm going to start with your hip and then we'll take a look at your head, Ok," asked Mr. Po?

"How is the bus driver?" asked Kate.

"He's still alive, thanks to you and the children," Mr. Po replied. "Looks like some kind of stroke. Once the snow stops, we'll take him to the hospital. Tests should tell us what it was."

"What are you doing?" asked Kate, suspicion, bubbling in her voice. "You can't just start removing my clothes in the middle of the kitchen."

"I can remove them somewhere else later, but right now Mr. Po needs to check your hip," said Ravenwood reasonably.

"But – but we're in the middle of the kitchen", protested Kate.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Cold from the Inside Outby Violeta F. Sterner Copyright © 2011 by Violeta F. Sterner. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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