The Garden of Darkness

Finally they were ready for dinner. They all sat while Ramah ladled out venison stew, and Bird Boy pulled apart flat bread so that everyone had a hunk.

“Mirri and Sarai have something for you,” said Ramah.

“What is it?” asked Jem.

“This,” said Sarai. She and Mirri took out two wreaths from behind their backs and crowned Jem and Clare.

“Return the conquering heroes,” said Ramah. All of them began stomping their feet and clapping their hands, and Bird Boy made loud whooping noises. Abel cheered. Jem grinned. But Clare couldn’t help it: she burst into tears.





AT FIRST CLARE felt that she wanted to stay and rest for a long time, but, really, when it came to it, leaving wasn’t that difficult. Ramah had kept everything in readiness for departure, and they were excited about reaching the Master’s.

“We’re so very close to the cure,” Jem said to Clare. “Sometimes I can’t bear it.”

“You’re worried something might happen before we get there.”

“Yes.”

“I’m worried enough about it on my own. Don’t add.”

He didn’t mention it again, but sometimes she caught him glancing at her, and there was anxiety in those muddy green eyes.

Sheba drew the wagon down the middle of the road. Runoff from a thaw had undermined the edges of the tarmac, making it dangerously unstable. Their second day back on the road, the temperature dropped. The grey sky lowered over them; Clare couldn’t remember ever seeing clouds that looked so close to the earth. Soon snow came down in thick beautiful flakes that trapped themselves in her eyelashes and hair.

“We’re going to have a snow day,” said Mirri. But Clare moved closer to Jem.

“I don’t like the way this looks,” she said. “Those clouds are packed with snow.” She was about to suggest setting up camp, when the wind picked up, and the flakes began to fly in their faces and make forward motion difficult.

And then the storm began in earnest.

In another twenty minutes, they were all holding onto the wagon for support.

And ten minutes after that, they were in the middle of a whiteout. Sheba came to a halt. Clare could see nothing except the part of the wagon she was holding. Moving up the wagon to get to Sheba’s head, Clare found herself knocking into Jem.

“We have to keep Sheba going,” he said.

“I’m on it.”

The wind whipped the snow into her face, and her cheeks and nose were freezing. She called out to the others, but her words disappeared into the wind. She felt her way to Sheba’s head and tried to pull her forward, but Sheba had lost momentum, and the wagon wouldn’t move. Finally, Clare smacked Sheba on the rump. Sheba shied away for a moment and then strained to get the cart going. They were moving, but Clare had no idea where; she could only hope that they wouldn’t go off the road or overturn the wagon in a ditch. They crawled across the landscape. Clare moved back along the wagon until she was with Jem again.

“We’re going to have to stop and get them all under the wagon,” she said. “There’s nowhere to go. I can’t see anything.”

“Okay, gather them up.”

At first, being under the wagon was a warm haven. They could see and hear again. Steam rose from their clothes as they huddled together, but soon the chill set in.

“I’m cold,” said Mirri.

“We’re going to freeze,” said Abel. “I’ve seen stuff like this on television. Hypothermia sets in and then, after a while, you think you’re warm. And then you die. You can tell when hypothermia’s started, because you start to shiver. I’m shivering now. For example.”

“We’re not going to freeze,” said Ramah with perfect calm.

“I feel like I’m freezing,” said Mirri. “Why won’t we?”

“Because if this doesn’t let up very soon, we’re going to drag the tarps down here,” said Ramah. “Then we’re going to drag out the sleeping bags and put them on the tarps and the other tarps over the sleeping bags. Then we’re going to take our clothes off and crawl in, two to a bag. And we’re going to release Sheba so she can find shelter.”

“That’s brilliant,” said Jem.

“Do we really have to take our clothes off?” asked Abel.

“Yes,” said Ramah. She looked at Bird Boy. “Including feathers. But don’t forget to drag your clothes in with you, or they’ll freeze.”

The snow did not let up. Jem and Clare and Ramah went out from under the wagon and faced the blizzard. In a moment, Sheba was free. Clare gave her a tap to let her know she could go. As they heaved the tarps and the sleeping bags out of the wagon and to the ground, Sarai pulled them under the wagon.

“I’ll get in with Mirri,” said Clare to Ramah. “You share with Sarai.”

Jem, on the other side of the wagon, was trying to zip two sleeping bags together. Abel and Bird Boy were fumbling at the zipper in an effort to help him.

“My hands are so cold,” Jem said. “But we need room for three. Or someone’s going to freeze.”

“Use my back,” said Clare.

“What?”