Chapter One
T he snowflakes grew in number.
The wipers struggled to clear the windshield.
This early December winter storm had Candace “Candi” Goodman turning up the speed of the wipers while easing up on the accelerator. She squinted into the night, trying to ascertain her position on the snow-covered roadway. It was impossible to make out the edge of the road.
Worse yet, there was nowhere to pull over. No signs of civilization anywhere. She had to keep pushing slowly onward until there was a safe place to stop for the night. Just then there was whimpering from the back of the minivan. She wondered if the puppies could sense her heightened stress level.
“It’s okay, babies.” She wished she believed her own words. She didn’t feel like any of this was okay. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Maybe if she said it enough times, she’d eventually believe it. But ever since an accident had the highway completely shut down and she’d been directed onto an alternate road, she felt as though she were going in the wrong direction.
Still, she’d turned right onto North Route 3 like her phone’s GPS had instructed. So, at least she was headed in the right direction. Her destination was a no-kill shelter in Maine, where these three pups could be adopted.
She regularly volunteered at Bob’s Animal Friends Shelter just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. When the owner, Bob Higgins, who was getting up in age, became very ill and was hospitalized, they needed to empty the shelter for the holidays. It wasn’t an easy task. After she’d placed all but these last three puppies, a shelter in Maine was willing to take them.
After a school consolidation, Candi, being one of the newest hires, had been let go. Now, working as a substitute teacher until a full-time position opened up, her schedule was flexible. It made it possible for her to make this road trip.
With Christmas carols playing, she’d set off at 5:00 a.m. Her goal was to make it to Maine in one day. It wouldn’t be easy with such a long drive, but she decided it would be too hard to find lodging with not one but three excitable four-month-old puppies. With Christmas just a few weeks away, the sooner she got them to the new shelter, the sooner the puppies would find their forever homes.
The only thing she hadn’t taken into account was the weather, or should she say the unexpected change in weather. It wasn’t that she hadn’t checked the forecast. She most certainly had, but the rain they were supposed to get had now turned into snow. Lots of snow.
It wasn’t so bad on the highway, because it was being maintained. But this rural road wasn’t in such good shape. Between the bad weather and the early darkness of winter, it was making it difficult to find her way back to the highway.
She squinted, hoping to see past the army of snowflakes. Where had the cars gone that she’d been following when they were redirected off the highway? They had either gotten swallowed up in the snowstorm or they’d turned off a ways back.
As the roadway narrowed, she had a feeling she’d made a wrong turn. She glanced at her phone, which was mounted on the dash. Why wasn’t it saying anything? Checking her mirrors and finding herself completely alone on this road, she stopped. She picked up her phone and found that it had no signal. A frustrated groan started deep in her throat.
Her gut told her to turn around, but there was no safe place to do that. On her left was a hillside, and to her right was a steep embankment. The last thing she wanted was to end up in a ditch on this desolate road in a snowstorm. Her only choice was to keep going.
She let off the brake and proceeded along the road, all the while peering into the night for a signpost that might tell her what road she was on. She’d even appreciate knowing what town she was nearing, but so far, she hadn’t found any signs.
The large snowflakes were mesmerizing in the headlights. She blinked repeatedly, trying not to get caught up in the hypnotic motion of the snow.
Even the Christmas music had stopped playing. The only sound right now was the crunch of the snow under the van’s tires. She had never felt more alone.
As she climbed a grade, her tires started to spin. Her instinct was to stop, but she knew if she did, she probably wouldn’t get moving again. And there was no way she wanted to get stuck out there in the middle of nowhere.
One of the puppies let out a whine. She couldn’t blame him. It had been a long day—a very long one. They’d made numerous pitstops along the way for the puppies to stretch their legs, which only made this trip feel longer.
She’d hoped to be closing in on the Maine state border by now. Instead, she didn’t have a clue where they were.
“It’s okay.” She tried to keep the worry from her voice.
The puppy whined again.
Her gaze moved to her phone. The screen was dark now. She didn’t even waste the time it would take to wake it and see if there was a signal yet. Instead she focused all of her attention on keeping the van on the road.
As the puppy continued to whine, she decided a Christmas song was in order. It might help calm all of them, especially herself. The lyrics to “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” crossed her lips. She didn’t know all of the lyrics, but she sang the ones she knew and made up the rest. The more she sang, the quieter the puppy grew. At least someone liked her singing. If only it were that easy to fix all the world’s problems.
And then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something moving into the roadway. Her heart launched into the back of her throat. She didn’t have time to think. She reacted.
Candi stomped the brake with both feet. The van didn’t slow down. It continued to glide across the icy asphalt.
The breath hitched in Candi’s lungs. This was bad. So very bad.
She cut the steering wheel hard to the right. Every muscle in her body stiffened. She waited for the collision.
It didn’t happen.
Instead, the front wheels dropped off the edge of the roadway. The van continued to careen off the road and down an embankment.
She screamed but there was no one to hear her…except the pups. They started barking and howling. They were all going to die and it was all her fault. If only she hadn’t gotten lost.
She’d heard that in a person’s final moments, their life flashes before their eyes. It didn’t for her. All she could think about was how she’d let Bob down. And what would happen to the sweet puppies behind her.
The screech of metal against rock pierced her ears. Tree branches scraped against the windows. The puppies let out terrified cries.
Candi was bounced in her seat. The only thing holding her in place was her seatbelt.
And then the van jerked to a stop. She slammed forward. The seatbelt strained against her shoulder and chest. She bounced side to side. Her head hit hard against the driver’s side window.
It had been a long day and night.
Michael sat behind the steering wheel of one of Kringle Falls’s snow plows. As the township’s road supervisor, he made himself available to fill in where needed. Tonight, he’d been needed as a snow system moved through the area and with the flu making the rounds, they were shorthanded. It was a bit early in the season for this large amount of snow, but it wasn’t unheard of either.
He knew many people in Kringle Falls would be thrilled by the white stuff. As they said, it added to the atmosphere of living in a Christmas town—the biggest and jolliest in the country. He didn’t know if it was true, but this town definitely played into the theme.
With this winter storm, he’d been behind the steering wheel for hours now. It was getting late. No one should be on these roads at this hour. After he made this final pass up Reindeer Pass, he was calling it a night. He’d go home and get a few hours of sleep before he hit the roads again. The storm was supposed to end sometime in the morning. The forecasters had predicted at sunup, but after having a job that was weather-related, he knew for a fact that the forecast was wrong more than it was right.
He reached for a tall thermal mug and took a sip of the still-warm coffee. It’d tasted better a couple hours ago.
As he slid the cup back into its holder, he pulled to a stop at an intersection. It was there he noticed a set of tire tracks that were headed up the ridge. Why would anyone go up there in this weather?
There were no houses along that stretch of roadway. It must be some kids testing themselves and their vehicle out on these treacherous roads. It gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. If they got stuck out there, it would be hours, no, more like days, until anyone found them.
So much for rushing home to bed. He turned toward the ridge and followed the tracks. He was pretty certain he’d find some teenage kids stuck in the snow.
The fact he could still make out the tire tracks was a good sign. It meant if they did get stuck, they wouldn’t have been out in the frigid temperatures for long.
Thoughts of his warm, cozy bed were long forgotten as he continued up the ridge. There was a lot of drifted snow in these parts. Just then a gust of wind sent the snow flying, and momentarily there was a whiteout. He hated nights like this because there was always someone who thought they could best Mother Nature. In the end, Mother Nature always won.
When the wind calmed, he could still make out the now faint indentation of tire tracks. As long as they made it to Blitzen Crossing, they should be okay.
But when he crested Donner Ridge, the tracks stopped. He stepped on the brakes. Where had they gone?
He looked all around, but there was no sign of the vehicle responsible for making those tracks. He muttered under his breath as he quickly shrugged on his heavy coat and yanked on an orange knit hat.
Grabbing a flashlight, he got out. As soon as his foot touched the ground, his boot slid. Luckily, he was still holding on to the door. It was the only thing that kept him upright. The road was now nothing more than a sheet of ice.
Once he regained his balance, he carefully moved to the edge of the road. He backtracked, searching for the tire tracks. His gut told him that someone was in trouble.
He swung the beam of the light back and forth across the roadway. He was about ten feet behind the snowplow when he found the end of the tire tracks.
They swerved to the side of the roadway and then disappeared down over the embankment. He followed the tracks with the flashlight, but the foliage was so dense he wasn’t able to see the vehicle.
He reached for his phone and dialed 9-1-1, but the call didn’t go through. When he looked at the screen, he saw there was no signal. He knew cell signals were spotty at best this far from town, but he was hoping in this instance he would get lucky. He walked in a big circle, waving the phone around, trying to locate a signal. He didn’t have any luck.
He glanced back at his truck. All of the lights were on, including the flashing yellow light atop the cab. If anyone ventured out on this desolate road, they’d definitely be able to see his parked truck.
He turned to the embankment. Not sure what he’d encounter, he started down the steep slope. It wasn’t easy with the snow hiding the rocky terrain.
Between the darkness, the uneven terrain, and the heavy vegetation, it was hard to keep his balance. At one point, his foot slipped and he fell on his backside. He struggled to regain his footing. Not bothering to brush off the snow, he kept going. Every moment that went by could be critical.
“Hello!” he called out, hoping someone would respond to him.
Silence was the only response.
He continued to follow the broken tree limbs and the trampled bushes. It couldn’t be much farther.
And then the beam from his flashlight caught on something reflective. As he drew closer, he realized it was the backend of a vehicle.
His steps quickened. “Hey! Can you hear me?”
There was still no response.
He mentally braced himself as he neared the vehicle. He had no idea what he was going to find when he glanced inside the van. But then he heard something. It was faint, but it was there. But what was it?