Chapter 6

Bob Long pulled the Jeep away from the cabin and started down the long driveway. The trip to Hinley shouldn't be too bad this time of year. The ski season hadn't started yet, although it would in a couple of weeks. Bob noticed an occasional snowflake but they stopped by the time he reached the county road.

In Hinley Bob decided to get dinner in the lone restaurant that was open. As he walked into the restaurant he stopped to talk to several of the locals that he knew. After the pleasantries he moved to a booth and sat down and waited for the waitress. Bob decided to order the ham and cheese club sandwich and a salad. The waitress hurried to his table and took his order and scurried to the kitchen to place the order. The restaurant was doing a brisk business even though the ski season hadn't really started yet. Just before he finished his dinner he looked out of the plate glass storefront and noticed that the snowflakes had started to fall again. He motioned for the waitress to bring him the check and the young girl headed for his table.

"It looks like winter is going to be a little early this year," the waitress said as she put the check in front of him.

Bob looked out the window again, "They're only calling for flurries aren't they?"

The waitress got a bored look on her face, "Naw, they changed it. They're calling for three to six inches now."

Bob left the money for the check and the tip and left the restaurant and headed for the stationary store to get a ream of paper. The snow was starting to fall steadier than when he had left the cabin but not so hard that he would have trouble getting back to the cabin. He was used to driving in snow and he had chains in the back of the Jeep if he needed them.

After he purchased the ream of paper he walked back to the Jeep. The snowfall had become heavier and he figured that the weather forecaster was right; there would be three to six inches by morning. Bob started the Jeep and let it warm up a little before he started for the cabin.

By the time Bob was on the county road that led to the cabin the snow had become a lot heavier and there was about an inch accumulation of snow on the road. The headlights were reflected off of the flakes and visibility started to be affected. Bob slowed down and put the Jeep in four-wheel drive.

By the time he neared his driveway there was a snow accumulation of about two inches on the road. The snowfall was becoming very heavy. The Jeep made it's way through the snow without any problems. The four-wheel drive did its job and Bob was within a couple of thousand feet of his driveway when he saw red lights flashing ahead of him. He couldn't make out what the lights meant as the visibility was getting worse and the snowfall was getting heavier by the minute.

Bob slowed down and approached the lights at a slow speed. As he neared the lights he saw that it was a small car parked at the side of the road with the hazard flashers blinking. He parked in back of the car and could see that someone was in the car. There was smoke coming from the exhaust so he knew that whoever was in the car was keeping the car running to keep warm.

When Bob came to a stop in back of the car a woman got out of the car and started walking back to the Jeep. Bob could see that she only had on a light jacket. She definitely wasn't dressed for this kind of weather. The woman slipped several times before she got to Bob's car.

Bob rolled the window down as the woman reached him, "What's wrong? Did your car quit on you?"

The woman looked like she was ready to cry, "No, I hit a deer. It's lying in front of my car. My car runs but both headlights are broken so I can't see where I'm going."

"Get in my car and get warm. You're not dressed to be outside in this mess."

The woman hesitated for a minute and then walked around the Jeep and opened the door and got in. Bob could see that she was half frozen. He turned the heat up full-blast and told the woman to put her hands in front of the vents.

Bob turned and looked over the back seat and found the tow strap that he always carried, "I've got a cabin up that driveway. I'll pull you off of the road with my tow strap and get you up to the cabin and get you warm. Do you think that you can steer the car while I pull you into the driveway?"

The woman nodded her head. Bob could see that she was not too happy about going to his cabin but she didn't have much choice in the matter. She would freeze to death in the car after it ran out of gas.

Bob maneuvered the Jeep in front of her car and backed as close to her car as he could. He instructed her to stay in his car until he pulled the deer away from in front of her car and he got the tow strap hooked up. He pulled the dead deer from in front of the woman's car and got back in the Jeep and backed closer the car. He got out and hooked up the tow strap and walked back to the Jeep.

After he was in the Jeep he rubbed his hands together, "Let me get warm for a minute and then you get in your car and I'll pull you off the road into my driveway. We'll just leave it in the driveway until the snow stops and then we'll worry about getting it out."

The woman didn't say anything and Bob knew that she was uneasy having to leave her car and probably spend the night in his cabin. He began to talk to her to try and calm her fears a little.

"My name is Bob Long. What's yours?"

"Um, my name is Ann Simmons. If you could just get me to the condo on the other side of the lake I could call someone to get the car."

Bob smiled at her, "I don't think that you'd get anyone to come out here tonight and I wouldn't want to attempt driving around the lake and trying to make my way back. They only predicted snow flurries this afternoon. Now they're predicting three to six inches. The way this stuff is coming down I'm sure it will be more than six inches by morning. Now, do you think that you're ready to get your car off of the road?"

Ann nodded and got out of the car and made her way to her car and got behind the wheel. Bob put the Jeep in gear and slowly took up the slack in the tow strap. Ann's car began to follow the Jeep as Bob turned into his driveway. She was unfamiliar with his driveway and was having trouble knowing where the driveway was under the snow. Bob had her car about twenty feet into his driveway when her car ran off of the driveway and became stuck in the ditch that he had installed to drain the water from the driveway. Bob got out of the car and unhooked the tow strap and motioned for her to get into the Jeep. She got out of the car, looked at it for a minute and then made her way to the passenger door of the Jeep and got in.

Bob started toward the cabin, "At least it's off the road. Let's get inside and get warm."

"Can you possibly give me a ride to the condo that I'm staying in and I'll call some friends and see if they can help get my car out of your driveway," Ann said hesitantly.