His face tightened as he surveyed the area at my feet. “Stay right there. Don’t move.”
He grabbed his pole and in one smooth move, he had cut the line set up in the small hole. He began inching his way toward me. As he got closer, the ground beneath me began to shift, ever so slightly, gurgling and yielding.
“Stop. It’s getting louder. Don’t come any closer.”
He stopped, his hand held out, palms up as if trying to soothe a frightened animal. “Okay. Why don’t you try backing up the way you came?”
My heartbeat was in my throat at this point. My body felt paralyzed. I was afraid to move or breath, the ground beneath me felt so unstable. “Chase… I don’t think I can move.”
Chase swore, looking around at our surroundings desperately, fear now etched on his face as well. “Okay, the only option right now is for you to back up slowly. I’ll try to back up as well and come toward you at a different angle.”
“No, please don’t go.” The fear had taken over all of my senses. I wanted Chase where I could see him.
“Penny, you can do this.”
I took a deep breath and looked down at my feet. The ground seemed to move at each twist of my head or slight shift in my stance. “I don’t think this spot can handle my full weight. If I lift the other leg to go backward, the ice will break.” The words sputtered out in a whisper, but he seemed to understand.
Chase stared at my feet, and then the snow crusted lake we stood on, before nodding. “Okay, you’re right. I’m going to back up slowly here and make my way toward the shoreline, and then I’ll come at you from the side. The trees keep it covered from the sun, so it should be strong enough. Wait until I’m set up before you move, so I can be in a good position to help you if I need to.”
Too scared to nod my head, I whispered, “okay.”
It felt like a lifetime before Chase had made his way over toward me. He stopped about five yards away. He was coming at me from the side now, but I couldn’t turn my head. Relief poured through my veins as he neared, even while my body trembled against my will. He stepped another yard closer. The ground beneath me popped as he did so. He stopped when he heard it too. My pounding heart reverberated throughout my entire body, touching every nerve until I shook with fear.
“Alright, I want you to reach out slowly and grab the end of my fishing pole. And then don’t let go.”
“I don’t think I can turn to look at you.”
“Just hold out your arm and I’ll place the pole in your hand.”
My breathing became deep and guttural as I slowly lifted my shaking arm. The popping and cracking on the ice sounded in my ears. The small shift of my weight as I lifted my arm to the side, toward Chase, proved to be my downfall. A loud crack rang out and just as I felt the tip of Chase’s pole touch my open palm, the frozen floor beneath me fell, dropping me with a startled scream into the dark, glacial abyss.
It was several long moments before I felt the cold. At first, it was only the pain of a thousand sharp needles, jabbing into my skin on contact. The heart stopping, bone chilling panic didn’t start for a few seconds into my drop. Once I started to rise to the top for air, my head hit something, stopping my accent. The ice. Panicked, I began flailing my arms, with as much energy as my shocked body could muster. I forced my eyes to open and I quickly located the light—the small hole I fell from. My breath was running out and my head kept hitting the top of the ice. I inched my way toward the light, nearly there, when two arms lunged into the water, locking under my armpits and pulled me up, over and out of the water in nearly an instant.
I fell backwards on top of him, both of us releasing a groan. For a moment, we laid there, the shock of what just happened hanging heavy over us, before my body began shaking violently.
“Come on, Penny.” Chase mumbled, as he climbed out from underneath me. “This ice won’t hold us.”
With some effort on his part, he scooted us both toward the shore. When the sounds of the popping ice stilled, he removed his heavy coat and threw it over my shoulders.
“We have to get to the house now!” His voice was loud in my ear. I wanted to tell him to stop shouting at me. Everything was okay, but I couldn’t recall if the words ever left my throat. My steps slowed. My brain felt foggy. I was just so cold. Chase had a tight grip around my shoulders, leading me off the ice, but at some point, I could no longer feel my legs moving. Then, I was floating. The blur of the trees passed all around me. Large snowflakes landed on my nose. The world seemed very quiet all of a sudden. Peaceful even.
More shouting in my ear. Chace. I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to tell me. More sounds. The stomping of feet on the hard ground, the swishing sound his coat made against the friction of our bodies. Was he running? The creak of the door. The familiar smell of pine and moths when we entered the cabin.
Home.
I didn’t pass out. I didn’t faint. Yet, I wasn’t alert in any real sense, I was just—numb. Frozen. My world was the blur before the glasses came on. The sounds around me were muffled, as though I were listening from underwater. I felt skin against mine and I hissed, trying to move away. Away from the fire. The heat. More shouting, and then, I felt someone pulling me closer. It had to be Chase. Was he shivering?
Sharp needles seemed to rub up and down my arms and legs, pricking and biting at my senses. I thrashed about, trying to move away from the hurt, but I couldn’t move. My limbs wouldn’t cooperate and the weight upon me didn’t give an inch.
Sometime later, the sound of a crackling fire drew me to awareness once more. The sharp jabs in my arms and legs had begun to subside, and I could see Chase rubbing my body with his hands. What time was it? The darkness of the night had seeped into the cabin. The warm, orange glow from the roaring fire, our only light. I closed my eyes once more, and this time, I slept.
When I awoke in the dark sometime later, I felt another sensation. Warmth. Though I couldn’t piece together the reasons why, my cheek was pressed against something heated. A body. A chest, maybe. Chase’s chest. My hand was somewhere warm. Was that Chase’s armpit? My mind felt as if it were trying to wade through a thick soup. I couldn’t conjure up the energy to process anything, so once more, I closed my eyes.
Chapter 8
The cozy heat that had blanketed me the past few hours stood— abandoning our cocoon of warmth. At the shift in body temperature, my eyes flicked open and watched as Chase added more logs to the fire, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs. When he turned back toward me, I met his gaze. He disappeared behind me into the kitchen for some time. When he returned, he knelt down beside me.
“You need to drink something warm. It’s just hot chocolate.”