Maria Piedmonte opened the back door of Monte's cafe with her arms filled with stacked catering trays. Decadent trays of cold cuts, freshly made lasagna, assortments of cheeses and crackers, and on top, a lovely array of baked goods. Joe came out of the kitchen and popped open the trunk for Maria, as he helped get the children in the car. He strapped Cole tightly into his seat, pulling the seat belt taut across his lap. Natalie was sleeping in her white and yellow car seat next to him. Joe kissed them both on the foreheads, before exiting the car.
"All set, Joe," said Maria, ready to hit the road and get home after a very long Christmas Eve at the restaurant. Joe just needed one more favor from Maria since his driver had called out sick.
"I'm sorry to have to make you do this. With Reggie home sick, I have no one else who can do it," Joe explained to his wife.
"Joe, its fine. I'll be home as soon as I can."
“Please be careful, it’s really getting awful out here."
The snow was coming down around them, heavier now, with several inches under foot. Maria just wanted to get the drive over with. Joe knew she was a safe driver, though if he had checked the news report at all that day, he would have never sent her in the first place.
"Bye, Joe."
Maria kissed her husband on his cool cheek, kicked the snow off of the sole of her boots and turned the key. Let’s get this over with.
Elkhart was lit up for the holiday season. Bright lights hung festively throughout the streets, shop windows decorated brilliantly, hoping to catch the eye of children and holiday shoppers. On the corner of Mountain Road and Terrace Lane, Penny Chafford stood with a bell and her red Salvation Army kettle, hoping to get some last-minute donations for the less fortunate. An ovarian cancer survivor who had nearly gone bankrupt from all her hospital bills, Penny did whatever she could for others, just thankful to be alive. Maria rolled her window down, and held out a twenty dollar bill for Penny’s cause. Penny, clearly frozen stiff from the inclement weather, thanked Maria graciously.
"God bless you!" Penny called happily, clearly touched by Maria's kind gesture.
"You need to go visit my Joe and he'll give you a warm meal. Right now," advised Maria.
Maria's statement was more a demand than a request. Penny smiled as Maria pulled away in her car, still ringing her bell in the December chill. Further up Mountain Road, Maria smiled as the church bells of St. Augustine's began to ring clear and crisp in the frigid night. The extreme cold providing prime acoustics, the sound woke up the night like a siren. In front of the church doors, she recognized Angela and Harry, the owners of Angie's Hair salon, where Maria frequently got her hair cut and permed. Maria waved kindly at the couple, close friends of her and Joe's, but they did not see her. Typically that is where Maria and the children would be on Christmas Eve, church, but because Joe was short-handed, she decided that there would be other years to attend.
Her tiny car groaned in protest as she wound around the curves leading out of Elkhart. Although Fox Hollow was considered one of the closest local towns, it could take nearly an hour to climb the pass in fair weather. She was hoping that her driving skills would not fail her tonight. The highway was empty. People clearly heeding the weather forecaster’s warning and staying indoors. Maria wished she could do the same.
The covered bridge at Elkhart was lit up brightly with large colorful lights. If it wasn't snowing so heavily she might have even taken a picture with the new Polaroid camera Joe had gotten her as an early Christmas gift. The old bridge covered a small creek that ran behind the houses in Elkhart. While a modern bridge would work much safer, no one wanted to be the one to state the obvious; the bridge had to go. When driving across the bridge, it would creak and groan, causing drivers to get nervous and whip across it. This only added to the breakdown of the bridge's structural integrity. Maria hated crossing this bridge.
Shake it off, Maria. Shake it off! You'll be fine.
The car began to inch across the bridge when her engine started to stall and sputter. Twenty seconds later the car engine had choked out its final death rattle. Piece of crap engine!
There were high beams shining at the bridge from the opposite direction. The bridge was one way; there shouldn't be any vehicle facing that direction unless it was Frank with the plow trucks or maybe one of the cops warning travelers about going up the pass in this horrible weather. Maria stepped out of her tiny powder blue car and into the snowy night.