Shielding her eye from the glaring light, she tried to make out what was blocking the way up the Pass. She walked closer and noticed how far away the lights were. That is when her eyes adjusted; the lights were coming closer. Slowly at first, but then at barreling speed, the shadow of a semi-hauler was skidding down the icy path towards her. Maria ran as fast as she could, snow boots struggling to move through the heavy snow. Fear rose in the pit of her stomach as she did everything she could to get out of the way of the oncoming truck. Screeching sounded from the tires of the truck as the driver was clearly trying to stop the truck from skidding on the ice. It did him no good; the truck was only picking up speed, faster and faster. From the opposite side of the covered bridge, Maria could hear sirens. The whirring sound was a comfort at first, but then she remembered, the children! The children are still on the bridge!
She tried running to them but it was too late. The truck plowed right over her, lifting Maria off the ground and sending her flying into the brush. She felt her body break as the world went dark.
*
“We need to get to the hospital!” demanded Catherine. Her labor pains getting progressively worse as the grandfather clock struck midnight.
“Catherine, it might be too dangerous, look at it outside,” explained Bridgette. The snow was coming down heavier now, with at least a foot of snow on the ground with more expected to come overnight.
“I cannot deliver a baby here. This is not 1922! I need an epidural!” Catherine screamed, now in a certified panic.
Bridgette looked at Jack, “You have to find a way to calm her down.”
Jack glared at his sister, “You’re the nurse! Aren’t you accustomed to this sort of thing?”
“Not after spiked eggnog, I’m not! Tell Mom to brew some coffee. I need coffee to function.”
Jack ran down to the kitchen to find Moira, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating a slice of apple pie and doing a crossword puzzle. In a blunt spew of words, Jack announced, “Catherine is in labor, the weather is too bad to drive, and Bridgette wants coffee now.”
Looking up over her tortoise shell frames, Moira gave Jack a look as if he was suffering from a severe form of lunacy.
“You want to run that by me again?” Moira said, looking up at her son over her tortoise shell frames with a perturbed look on her face.
Jack spoke more slowly this time.
“Catherine is in labor. The weather is too bad to drive in. Bridgette wants coffee.”
“Well honestly, the latter two are not of any concern to me. We need to call an ambulance.”
“Will they come out in this?”
“I guess we’ll see. And tell your sister that if she wants coffee she’ll have to brew it herself. I’m off for the evening.”
*
“Where the hell is this ambulance at?!” demanded Jack, pacing under the clock in the den, shuffling his feet so loudly that he woke his father who was snoring away in his recliner. Angus awoke in his usual gruff manner, shooting a nasty look at Jack.
“Must you breathe so loudly? I’m trying to sleep!”
Moira, who was within earshot threw a pillow at her grumpy husband’s head while screaming at him, “Get up! Your daughter-in-law is in labor, and we need a doctor!”
Shocked out of his sleepy state by his wife’s sudden attack, Angus shot out of his recliner in a confused stupor. “Huh?”
Moira answered in her best cave man voice, “Catherine. Your daughter-in-law. Baby coming. You doctor. You help her.”
Angus hurriedly marched up the steps to Jack and Catherine’s bedroom to check on Catherine who was lying in bed in considerable pain.
“We need to get her out of here NOW!” declared Angus.
Moira, who was standing in the doorway looking deeply concerned, said “I called an ambulance over thirty minutes ago! We may need to deliver here. It’s where all my kids were born…”
Bridgette yelled back at her mother, “There's no more time to wait! We have to take her.”
Angus said urgently, “No Moira, that is not an option in this case.”
Jack added, “If we wait for an ambulance, they both could be dead!”
Moira wasn't listening. She was too busy grabbing her rosary out of her housecoat pocket to hear what the others were saying.
“Bridgette, get a blanket! “ordered Jack as he hurriedly put on his winter coat. In a single swoop, he lifted Catherine off the floor and rushed downstairs. Bridgette followed shortly after, blankets in hand. She wrapped one around Catherine, who was dead weight in Jack's arms. She grabbed the door for Jack and ran to his truck, pulling it to the back door so he could load Bridgette into the cab.
Bridgette called to Frank, who was standing in the doorway, “I will call when we are there!”
Jack slammed the door shut, turned to his sister and screamed, “High gear, let's go!”