Then, the wind picked up, heavy and wild, blowing a fresh sheet of snow across our path.

It was covering our footprints almost as fast as we made them.

“This way,” I said, pulling him under a low, rocky ledge.

The ledge was covered in thick, drooping balsam branches that touched the ground.

It formed a small, dark cave.

We crawled inside and collapsed onto the frozen earth.

I pulled my heavy wool coat around both of us.

Alexander was shivering violently, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

“They will wait for the fire to die,” he said, his voice barely a squeak.

“They won’t find us in this storm,” I replied, though I did not believe it.

I held him close, tucking his head under my chin.

The smell of burning pine and gasoline drifted through the trees, even here.

We sat in the dark for hours.

The cold crawled up from the frozen ground, deep into my bones.

My fingers lost all feeling.

Alexander’s shivering slowly stopped, which terrified me more than the shaking.

“Alexander, stay awake,” I whispered, shaking his shoulder.