Until dawn, p.1
Until Dawn, page 1
Until Dawn
Kate Amedeo
Copyright 2016 Kate Amedeo
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- 12 hours till dawn -
What would you say about a white Christmas, Jen?
Yes, that’s certainly something to look forward to. Can’t even remember when was the last time we had snow during this time of year.
Two more days left on the countdown. I hope that all you folks at home are tucked under a blanket with some hot cocoa as it’s going to get really freezing out there. And we are going to keep you company with our holiday cheer. And now, let’s listen to Chris Rea and his old seasonal classic.
The voices on the radio changed to music.
Sarah looked at Jim. He held one hand on the steering wheel, staring up ahead through the windshield wipes as they cleared large snowflakes away from the glass. She smiled and put her hand on her belly, feeling a faint kick. Jim must have felt her eyes on him and turned his head.
‘Hey, gorgeous,’ he returned her smile and threw in a wink.
‘How’s my baby-girl doing? Practising karate kicks again?’ his eyes fixing on her hand, covering the bump.
‘Punching away. Like father, like daughter,’ she stroked the belly.
He moved his left hand from the gear lever onto her hand. She turned the palm upwards and gently squeezed it.
Driving home for Christmas…
‘Just look at the weather,’ Jim said, shifting slightly forward and placing both hands on the wheel. The wind hurled myriads of snowflakes against the windshield, making it difficult to see the road up ahead.
Sarah reached back and took a gift bag from the back seat. From it she took out a hat shaped as a reindeer’s head with green braids hanging from the ear flaps, a red nose and two eyes on the front and the stuffed antlers at the top. She put it on.
‘How do you like your new style?’ she said, grinning and posing as if in front of an imaginary camera.
‘I always knew Angie never liked me,’ Jim observed her antics with a smile on his face.
‘Stop, you know she loves you. Besides, it will look good together with that reindeer sweater I got you,’ she giggled.
‘Not wearing it. This either,’ he indicated the hat. ‘Not in this lifetime.’
‘Oh, come on, mom’s going to love you in it’ she laughed.
‘Admit it, you two had it planned all along.’
‘Maybe. Maybe not. A twin never snitches on her sister,’ she flung the hat back onto the seat, reaching for another present.
‘It’s a shame we can’t go to Italy together with them,’ she said while digging in another gift bag.
‘Well, I don’t know. I’m kind of looking forward to spending Christmas with my girls. Just you, me and little Maggie,’ he smiled.
‘You mean Lily,’ she rustled the wrapping paper inside the bag.
‘Yup,’ he gave her a sideways glance, ‘Maggie it is.’
‘Hey,’ she playfully punched him on the shoulder.
‘Ouch, stop the violence, woman, or I’ll be forced to call the police.’
Driving in my car… Driving home for Christmas…
‘Angie’s an angel! Just look at this. Isn’t it adorable?’ she put a pink bodysuit with Mummy’s Little Princess embroidered on it on her belly.
Jim gave a look and nodded. Next she placed a matching pair of shoes on her palm.
‘My gosh, they’re so tiny…’
‘You know, I was thinking that we could buy that crib I showed you on Amazon. The dark brown one, remember? It comes as a set together with a nursing chair.’
Jim clenched the wheel and drew a deep breath. She had felt some tension during the dinner. He never was the talkative type but today he’d been all too quiet. But she decided not to ask him what it was that bothered him. He’d tell her eventually.
‘Hun, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you.’
‘What’s wrong?’ she put the shoes back into the gift bag.
‘Um,’ he faltered, ‘remember I told you that they were planning to make some changes in the company?’
She had a feeling where this was going.
‘It turns out the thing they decided to change is, well, me,’ he looked straight ahead, not daring to face her. She almost could read his thoughts, they had so many plans and now he was the one letting her down.
‘I know this is a bad time. I’ve already started to look for something else. I promise that we will get whatever is necessary…’ he felt her hand touch his.
‘I’m sorry,’ there was no reproach in her voice.
He turned and saw her brown eyes with a fleck of golden dust right around the pupils. Those were the same eyes he had fallen in love with from the first sight when he’d seen her in that student cafeteria.
‘We’ll make it. As we always have,’ she smiled.
And feel you near me…
‘Do you think we’ll make it home with this blizzard?’ she looked out the window where the wind was thrashing a thick snow curtain. The snowstorm seemed to have gained in strength. All she could see was snow dust as if someone had scattered flour into the wind.
‘We’ll be there before you know it,’ he sounded happier.
‘Good, ‘cause I’ll need to wee soon. Can’t remember if I’ve ever seen it snow so much,’ she said and her voice changed into a scream as the car jerked all of a sudden, then sharply turned to the left, abruptly changing the direction to the right when Jim tried to turn the wheel.
‘Hold on!’ she heard him yell out.
It seemed like forever, the car drifted, sliding from side to side, the wheels spinning and slipping, until finally they came to an abrupt stop.
The front of the car dug itself into a snow bank. Jim was still clenching the wheel with both hands and pressing his foot onto the break pedal. Everything froze still, only the windshield wipes were moving repeatedly, accompanied by the music coming from the radio and the roaring wind.
For a moment they did not dare to move. Then Sarah gasped and large tears streamed down her face. Jim undid his belt and leaned towards his wife.
‘It’s OK,’ he whispered into her ear, holding her tight. He felt her body trembling in his arms.
‘Shh, everything’s all right,’ he kept repeating as she sobbed, covering her face in his jacket. Jim brushed her soft brown curls and kissed her on the head.
When she seemed to calm down a bit, he let her out of his embrace and slowly took her left hand off the door handle. Her fingers had dug into it like an eagle holding its pray.
‘Look at me,’ he said as calmly as he could, gently turning her by the chin so she would face him.
‘We are all right, all three of us,’ having said it he put one hand on her belly. Sarah took a deep breath and nodded.
Sharp gusts of wind coughed snow dust at the windows. Another song had started on the radio.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful…
Jim tried to reverse and back out of the snowbank, the engine roaring under the hood, but to no avail. Finally, he pressed the button with the red triangle symbol on it and the clicking of the turn signals came on.
‘What are we going to do?’ Sarah’s voice, unusually quiet, slightly trembled..
‘Call for help,’ he took out his phone and dialled 999. She could hear there was no signal.
‘Damn it, there’s no coverage,’ Jim tried to dial the emergency number again.
‘Shit…’
Let it snow… Let it snow… Let it snow…
Jim stretched out his hand, looking at the screen, but there still were zero bars.
‘Jim?’
‘I’ll try to go outside and see if I manage to call from there,’ he opened the door and the freezing wind immediately used the opportunity to put its icy claws inside the car, scratching at the skin with its bony fingers. He had already put one foot outside when he felt her tugging at his sleeve.
‘Please, be careful,’ she held on to him with both hands.
‘A little snow never killed nobody,’ he smiled and pecked her on the cheek before closing the door and disappearing into the darkness, white whirlwind swallowing up his shape as he moved further away from the car.
Sarah hugged herself and sighed. She reached to the buttons on the dashboard and raised the temperature of the heater. The she tried to dial Angie a couple of times but the signal was absent.
- 11 hours till dawn –
Another song had ended but Jim was nowhere to be seen. She lost track of how much time had passed since Jim had left. The bright numbers on the digital clock on the dashboard showed twenty-four minutes past nine.
A special hello to everyone who has just joined us. This is Rick and you are listening to radio Northsound, your local friendly radio station in Aberdeen. This was Frank Sinatra, wishing all you lads and gals a Merry Christmas. We’ll continue our Christmas carol marathon right after some traffic messages.
A short jingle followed the voice of the radio host.
‘Driving with Northsound…’ a womans voice stretched the last word.
It seems that all this snow has caused some trouble for the drivers.
Yeah, we’ve received a couple of messages from our listeners. One of them is from Jenny. She says that she’s been trying to get into the city for the past twenty minutes but the the streets are jammed, and with {PAGEBREA
Sarah turned the sound of the radio louder.
Garry just tweeted, saying he is stuck in a pub in Charlestown. The roads are completely snowed in and there seems to be no end to this blizzard. He asks to say hi to his wife Rachel.
Lucky you, I’d like to get stuck in a pub for a night, too.
Laughter came from the radio.
Oh, stop it. Don’t you like spending a night at work?
We have also received some official messages from the traffic control that some of the highways are closed due to the adverse weather conditions. It seems that this unexpected snowstorm has hit the whole northern part of the country. For now, the A944 and A96 are closed in both directions between Aberdeen and Inverurie and Aberdeen and Alford. The temperature will not go up until after Christmas so dress warm and and stay safe on the roads. We will keep you updated about the traffic situation.
And now, let’s listen to Johny Mathis followed by an old goodie from Wham!.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
Sarah jumped up in the seat as the driver’s door flung open. It was Jim. He got into the driver’s seat, fighting the wind as he pulled the door closed.
‘Jim!’ Sarah hugged him. His cheeks were cold to the touch and covered in red blotches. Both the hair and the jacket were coated with a layer of snow.
‘What did they say?’ she moved away and looked into his face, full of hope.
He rubbed his hands together and exhaled into the palms.
‘On the radio they said that the roads were closed,’ she continued talking.
‘When will they come get us?’
‘Soon,’ he breathed at the hands again.
‘Good, I got so scared. I thought you were never coming back,’ words rapidly fell off her lips.
‘I’ve checked the exhaust pipe, we should be fine for now,’ he said.
‘For now? What do you mean?’ she looked at him, puzzled.
‘How long will we have to stay here for?’ her voice sounded a pitch higher than usual.
‘Maybe a couple of hours, tops,’ he said, knowing that she would freak out.
‘A couple of hours?’ she almost screamed.
‘Didn’t you just say that they are coming to get us?’ she sounded like a resentful child walking out of the store without the toy she’d wanted.
‘Calm down,’ he tried to sound calm himself, knowing where this was heading.
‘A couple of hours?!’ she looked out the window, her breath becoming faster and tears welling up in her eyes.
‘They said they are sending help and that it’s going to take them a while to get here because of the snowstorm. Look, it’s going to be just fine,’ he tried to pull her closer but she pushed him away, turning towards the passenger window. He wanted to put his hand on her shoulder but then decided to give her a minute. He never really knew what to do when she was like this.
Her shoulders trembled and she gave out a sob. Jim decided to give it another go.
‘Come here, my little cry-bear,’ he began calling her like this when she started to have her mood swings. It was a commercial about dog insurance that triggered the crying the first time. He remembered how they were sitting on the sofa when all of a sudden she broke out in tears. Afterwards they laughed about it together.
He pulled her closer and locked her in his arms. This time she didn’t resist.
‘It will be all right, I promise.’
Last Christmas I gave you my heart…
After a couple of minutes had passed he gently drew back and took her by the shoulders.
‘It’s going to be all right,’ he spoke slowly, ‘they said they’d be here as soon as possible.’
She snivelled and nodded, as he wiped the tears off her face.
- 8 hours till dawn –
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…
Sarah looked at the dashboard where a yellow icon of the fuel pump had lighten up.
‘Jim?’ there was unease in her voice.
He saw where her eyes were directed.
‘I know, I’ve seen it.’
She watched as the number on the meter of the remaining miles got one digit smaller. A feeling of anxious terror slowly but steadily started burrowing inside her when Jim went out once again to call the emergency number.
- 7 hours till dawn –
Sarah opened her eyes and felt that it got noticeably colder inside the car. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Her back hurt like hell.
‘Hey, babe,’ Jim sat, looking at her. He seemed tired.
‘How long have I been out?’ she asked.
‘A bit less than an hour.’
She stretched in the seat and rubbed the eyes. Only then did she notice that the headlights were off. The windshield wipers did not clear away the snow anymore and the windshield itself was halfway buried in it. The blizzard seemed to have grown stronger and only the squalls of wind filled the eerie silence.
‘Jim…’ she started but did not say it out loud.
‘What do we do now?’ she looked at him.
‘Keep warm,’ he said quietly as the wind howled around the car.
- 6 hours till dawn –
‘I found this in the pocket,’ he held a cheap lighter in his hand. How many times this habit of his was the cause of an argument. He gave up smoking only after she’d showed him the two lines on the pregnancy test.
‘It’s really cold,’ she said, shivering.
‘I know,’ his breath condensed into small clouds as he spoke the words.
He took the hat from the back seat, the one Angie had given him as an early Christmas present and put it on her head.
‘Here, it looked good on you,’ his lips curved into a smile.
She pulled it over her head. The fabric felt cold to the touch.
Jim opened the glove compartment, took all the stuff out and started going through the receipts and other scraps of paper, using the light on his phone to see what they were.
‘What are you doing?’ Sarah settled in the seat and watched him with curiosity.
‘Nothing, just clearing out the trash,’ he was turning the bits of paper first one side then the other, putting some aside.
‘Now?’ she looked at him, trying to understand what he was doing.
‘You know I like to keep myself busy,’ he smiled, as he put another old receipt into one of two stacks on his lap.
‘Do you remember when we went to the aquarium?’ he held a ticket in his hand with an octopus on it.
‘Yeah,’ she smiled. ‘Took me a while to get you to take me there.’
‘I’m just not that into fish, more of a meat lover.’
‘You’re so silly.’ He always knew how to make her smile.
‘Would you have fallen in love with me if I weren’t?’ he put his hand on her thigh.
She knew that they would have to do it sooner or later but tried to push the thought of it as far away as possible. She said nothing when he made an improvised bonfire.
After the scraps of paper, old receipts and an old Burger King cup which they found in the cup holder were burned, Jim took the gift bags from the back seat and added those to the fire. Smoke filled the air. Plastic gave a bitter stench but it was better than freezing.
The wind howled through the narrow crack of the window, littering the back seat with snow, which slowly thawed.
Sarah held her hands in thin leather gloves near the flame.
‘We won’t last long this way,’ she said looking at the fire which grew smaller with each passing moment. Even though they had a source of heat the air temperature inside the car had dropped considerably. She shifted in the seat and tapped her feet now and then to keep warm.
Jim said nothing. He moved closer and put his arm around her.
- 5 hours till dawn –
When they ran out of the contents of her bag which included a pack of tissues, a leaflet for prenatal classes, a small vial of perfume Jim had given her for St.Valentines that year and three tampons left from the time she still had any use for them they added the contents of their wallets to the fire. The bag was made of leather, it gave out a horrible stench but did not burn.
Sarah took the bra off and that was reduced to ashes as well. Neither of them said much except for an occasional phrase about another thing they thought could be used as kindling.
- 4 hours till dawn –
Sarah sat quietly, holding the baby’s clothing in her hands. Her lips looked even paler compared to the red nose of the reindeer hat. The flame was steadily shrinking.
‘I can barely feel my legs,’ she said, breaking the silence, trying to wriggle her toes.
‘Here,’ she handed the little bodysuit to Jim.
‘No, we’ll find something else,’ he opened the glove compartment for the fourth time and looked inside, shining with the flashlight of his phone to see if there was something he’d missed. Then he looked under the seats. There was nothing left.
- 3 hours till dawn –
‘That was it,’ Sarah looked at the small clothes burning away in flames, turning black and dissolving in the pile of ashes. She held her hands close to the heat but the fingers were becoming rigid. She flexed them a couple of times.
Jim looked around once again, his eyes scouting the interior of the car for anything they could use. Then he had an idea. He took out his keys, leaned back and started shredding the upholstering of the back seat.
Sarah watched him quietly as he ripped pieces of material off and stacked them onto the fire. The fabric caught fire very fast, releasing a black smoke. Sarah coughed
