When the blizzard came, it was on us so suddenly it caught even Kit by surprise. I was sitting at the kitchen table, half-way through chapter twenty-three, when a blast of wind blew hard against the door.

It was so violent I stopped mid-sentence. Kit’s chair scraped back abruptly. He walked to the window and said, “Holy smokes.”

“Kit?” I called anxiously.

“Damn, it looks like a serious blizzard out there.”

“Really?”

“Fuck,” he cursed. “The storm got here faster than the weatherman said it would. It was not supposed to arrive till late this evening. Damn, I should have paid better attention to the wolves. Things are always going to get bad when they all huddle up on the porch.”

I stood up and reached for my coat. “I should go home before the roads get too bad, then.”

“We can give it a shot,” Kit said doubtfully. “But it might not be possible. Once we’re out of the protection of the windbreak from the trees the storm, if it gets worse, could easily knock my old truck off the road.”

“God,” I exclaimed alarmed. “How long do you think the blizzard will last?”

“It’s not forecast to last more than a few hours, but you can never say. It could even last days.”

“Days?” I gasped.

“It’s unlikely, but I have to warn you of the worst case scenario. Do you have a pet that needs feeding, or something urgent that you have to do?”

I shook my head.

“Good. We’ll just wait and see what happens.”

“Wait? For how long?”

“A few hours.”

I worried my lower lip. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding?”

“No way,” he said with a laugh. “I like having you here, remember?”

Outside the wind howled. “What if it lasts longer than a few hours?”

There was an odd silence. “You can sleep in my bedroom. I’ll change the sheets for you, and I’ll sleep downstairs and make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”

“I’m sorry to put you to all this trouble,” I murmured.

“I never have visitors so it’ll be a pleasure,” he replied gruffly.

A blast of wind rattled the windows, and I was suddenly excited. I had a brilliant idea.

“Kit?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you do something for me?”

“You want to go home?” he asked, and he sounded so disappointed, I felt bad for him.

I shook my head vigorously. “I want you to be my eyes. I’ve never been out of town during a blizzard, and I’d love to see it through your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll figure something out. I trust you completely.”

Kit obviously wasn’t sure about my idea, but I was. I wanted to be out there in the midst of the whirling storm.

“Right, get your coat and let’s go out onto the porch.”

After I slipped into my coat, he came up to me and gave me a warm scarf. It smelled of him and my stomach clenched like a fist. I wrapped it around my neck, and he handed me a pair of thick men’s gloves. I pulled them on and he opened the front door. A strong gust of wind carrying fluffy flakes of snow slapped me in the face. I gasped and laughed at the sensation, and felt him turn to stare at me.

“Tell me what you see,” I urged.

“It’s … it’s cold out here.” He stopped. “Obviously, you can feel that yourself,” he said, sounding embarrassed. “The wind is blowing hard … uh … sorry. Let me start again.”

I smiled at him encouragingly.

He was silent while he looked around. “The wolves are milling around out front. They’re looking towards us, but none of them have come close yet. When they stand in the snow is when they look most beautiful.”

“Come on,” he said taking my hand. We went down the steps and stood on the ground. The strong winds full of fluffy snow buffeted us, and tore at my coat, making it flap.

“You know how long the driveway is, right?” he shouted above the noise of the wind.

I turned towards his voice and nodded.

“Okay, on either side of the driveway are sapling trees.”

“Cedars,” I yelled, my smile widening. “Even in the winter I can smell them.”

“That’s right,” he approved. “They are almost bent over with the strong wind. That roar you hear is the wind tearing through all the big cedars lining the road. But they are good and sturdy, nothing will hurt them.”

As the snow poured down on us, Kit called out, “Right now, the blizzard has suddenly got so bad, the air is almost white and you can’t see squat. I can’t even see the tall cedars out at the road anymore.”