Page 50 - Ninety Miles From Nowhere

nothing compared to the agonizing pain in my feet. After I could bear to have someone touch my feet, my high-top laced boots were removed, and we soaked my feet in snow water to begin with. We very gradually warmed the water, and by the time my feet were thoroughly thawed and I was more or less at ease in my mother’s old felt house slippers, two hours had elapsed. The time had been filled with constant work and strain on the part of all four of us, and complete exhaustion on my part.
Jack, bless his heart, had been watching out the window for the lights of the truck. When it stopped, he put on some food he was preparing for my supper, but after all the excitement it was ten thirty before I got to eat the warmed-over food.
The next morning, Jack followed our tracks down to the road, picking up all the candy and packages that had been strewn there.
And of course none of this would have happened if my feet hadn’t been so cold when I got out of the truck.
Also the following morning, Lon came to see about me, after hearing at the ranger station what the minimum temperature had been the night before.
“My wife nearly had a fit when she found out I’d let you out on the road,” he said. “If you couldn’t drive up to her cabin, why didn’t you bring her home?” she asked me. “Then you could have taken her back this morning.”
“Well, I can tell you right now that I’d never have let you out if I’d had any idea it was so cold. I was horrified when I heard that the
temperature last night was 39 degrees below zero!”