From Fire to Frost

    Madelynn raised her head and looked northward, a strange sensation twisting her gut. She had the vague feeling that something was wrong, that there was danger somehow, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Glancing down at Mudd, the family's shepherd-terrier mix, who hadn't moved from where he was sleeping near her garden basket; she shrugged it off. She went back to her gardening, pulling out the few stray weeds that had managed to find themselves in her garden beds. As she finished, she gathered the weeds up and rose to her feet, straightening the long skirts of her dress.     "Mama!" called the flute-like voice of her youngest child. Her two-year-old daughter, Eva, appeared in the doorway of the cabin, her wispy copper strands flying around her face and her cheeks pink from exertion.     "Yes darling, what is it?" she asked the girl.     "It's Missy. You know where she's?" her daughter asked sorrowfully.     Despite the girl's broken English, she realized Eva was trying to find her favorite toy in the world, a brightly colored ragdoll that Madelynn's mother had made for her before they moved out to the mountains of Colorado.     "I'm sorry sweetheart, I don't. Try looking for her in the last places you remember seeing her," she responded with a shake of her head.     Eva disappeared back into the cabin and Madelynn headed for the chicken coop. Around the back side of it was a compost pile that had been steadily growing since they built the cabin last summer. She dropped the weeds in the compost pile and headed for the house.     Inside, she found her son Devin putting together some food for lunch. An industrious little four-year-old, he had wrapped up some salted ham, chunks of a heavy-rind creamy cheese, and thick slices of oat bread in oil cloth to keep them safe on the trip to the market. A couple of apples, Madeleine's wallet, and a skin full of water got added to the pile.     She smiled at her eldest and bent down to kiss him on the top of the head, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Got everything together, haven't you?" she asked with a loving smile.     "I think so, Mama," he replied, looking up at her for affirmation.     "Make sure that you and Eva have your hats and put your shoes on. I'm going to go load up Penny with our wares," she told him and headed outside to get their horse.     Penny, their spunky chestnut mare, lived in a corral on the far side of the chicken coop. There was a small barn affixed to one side of the corral and it was to this, that Madelynn headed. Inside, she gathered up Penney's tack and went outside to prep their horse for the trip.     Penny was more than ready, and was dancing excitedly outside the barn as Madelynn approached. After Penny was saddled and hitched to the wagon, Madelynn went back into the barn and pulled down the gutted and salted carcasses, the hides, feathers, antlers, teeth, and the larger bladders and stomachs of the animals that she had most recently killed during her hunting forays. She piled the three deer, two turkey, three duck, one badger, and four rabbits into their wagon.     After carefully closing the barn doors, she opened the gate to the corral, and led Penny and the wagon around to the front of the house. She loaded up the baskets that had already been filled with chicken eggs, freshly-picked vegetables and berries and were sitting by the front door.     Devin came out a few seconds later with a large satchel slung over his shoulder. He had his arms wrapped around it, trying in vain to hold it off the ground. Eva followed close behind him, holding three wide-brimmed hats, with Mudd at her heels.     The largest she gave to her mother, who scooped her off the ground and gave her a kiss before placing her on the wagon fence. Madelynn offered a hand to Devin, who shook his head.     "I can do it, Mama," he said with determination.     She watched with a little bit of amusement as he scrambled his way into the wagon.  She went into the cabin and took the rifle from it's spot on the kitchen wall, then latched the door behind her and joined her children in the wagon. Mudd sprang up beside them and settled in the back. Devin handed the reins to her, and with a flick of her wrist, they were off.     It had been a while since their last trip to town and Penny was energetic. The silly mare kept trying to break into a trot, but with the uneven ground and the twists of the path, Madelynn kept having to slow her down. The children happily theorized with each other about what they were going to do in town and played little games as they traveled. After about a half hour, they broke out of the shadowy forest and emerged into the sunlight as the path merged into a dirt road that headed north.     Blinking in the bright sun, she and the children put their hats on to shield their faces and necks. Mudd wedged himself further under the bench and out of the blazing sun.     "Look, Mama, pheasants!" said Eva in excitement, as she pointed towards the western scrub. Both children plugged their ears with their fingers in preparation as Madelynn rose smoothly from her seat, raised the rifle to her shoulder, aimed and fired. A shot rang out and a flock of pheasants flew into the air with a thunderous flurry of feathers.     Madelynn fired twice more. It had taken less than 15 seconds and the group watched as two roosters fell out of the sky. The rest of the flock disappeared over the ridge line. "Go get 'em, Mudd," she said softly, never taking her eyes from where her prey had fallen.     The moment she had fired her rifle, Mudd had risen from his spot and was now raring to go. He flew out of the wagon and across the turf, kicking up little puffs of dust as he sped towards the ridge line. It took him but a couple of minutes, then they heard him bark his announcement. He had found the birds.     In a few more minutes, he came trotting back out of the underbrush, both pheasants held skillfully in his mouth. Madelynn was waiting for him by the wagon and she took the birds from his mouth, placing them in the back of the wagon with the other dead animals. Mudd leapt into the wagon as well, and they resumed their trip. In another 10 minutes, they had arrived at their destination, the small settlement of New Haven.     It was a dusty little village with dirt streets and a few trees throughout. All of the houses were made from wood and most were no more than two stories high. The people were hardy, friendly and outspoken. Most had survived quite a few harsh winters up here in the mountains.     Even though Madelynn's family planted roots near the town just two summers ago, they were well acquainted with most of the townsfolk. The citizens of New Haven looked forward to her weekly visits. She was well known to be a good marksman and they eagerly awaited the fresh game in the back of her wagon.     She drove up the street until they came to the tiny strip of lawn in front of the only Hotel in town. Directly beside it was the only market in town, and it was to this that Madelynn was headed.     She left the kids and the dog to guard their wares, and went in to talk to the shop owner, a portly and pleasant man with a handlebar mustache. George Olsen greeted her inside the doorway with a hearty handshake. "Why Madelynn, my dear, have you come to restock my larders?" he queried, smiling.     She smiled and nodded, gesturing to the door. "You had best come take a look at what you want before the rest of the town's folk descend," she warned with a smile.     He followed her outside after gesturing for his assistant to load up Madelynn's weekly order of flour, sugar, yeast, and apples. He viewed the contents of her wagon, before promptly buying all of the meat, eggs, vegetables, and the berries that Devin and Eva had picked the day before. "You know," he said, "Without you, I doubt that most of these folk would have enough to eat. You keep us better stocked with food then most of the men who claim to know how to shoot a gun."     She laughed, "Well at least I know I will always find a buyer for my game then." She appreciated doing business with Mr. Olsen. He always bought her game and other foodstuffs for a fair price, and he always gave a treat to Devin, Eva, and Mudd.     Today was no exception. The rotund shopkeeper offered the children each a horehound stick. That was Eva's favorite candy, and she squealed with delight. Devin thanked him politely as he took the treat. Then Mr. Olsen gave a peanut butter biscuit to Mudd who thanked him with a wag of his tail and a happy bark.     Madelynn tucked her payment into her wallet, clambered back into the wagon and with a twitch of the reins, guided Penny around the corner to the house of a man named Obediah Smith. A carver by trade, he normally bought the bones, antlers and teeth from her to make weapons and beads. Every now and then, the natives would stop by the settlement to trade food and furs in exchange for the beautifully crafted beads.     Obediah, a burly bald man with a long beard, was standing at the doorway when they arrived and grinned. "Lucy told me you had arrived in town," he drawled in his native Texan accent.     "She must have seen us on our way to the market," responded Devin, who had a little boy crush on Obediah's young daughter whom he had raised alone since his wife died a couple years previous from the fever. She was a few years older than Devin, and had the cutest blond curls. An engaging child, she popped out from behind her burly father and waved at them, a cheeky smile on her face.     Devin and Eva climbed off the wagon and ran off with her to play while the two adults unloaded the things Obediah would want. Madelynn helped him carry it inside and they traded money. She climbed back into the wagon.     "Where's your last stop?" Obediah asked.     "The park," she replied, referencing an uncultivated plot of grass and trees near the creek on the outskirts of town.     "I'll be sure to send the kids along that way when they come back," he said with a nod.     She thanked him and drove on to her next stop. First it was the tanner's where she traded him the hides and innards. Her last stop was to the furrier, who bought her furs and feathers to make coats from. Finally, she headed to the park, where she unhitched Penny and let her graze.     She spread out the blanket that was always kept under the bench and relaxed for a while, reading the small book of poetry that had been wrapped up in the blanket. After a little while she could hear the gleeful noises of her children, who came running towards her with Lucy, panting with big grins on their faces.     Eva dove into her arms, followed by Devin, and she embraced them both warmly. "Did you two have fun?" she asked with a smile.     They nodded and burst into stories about their afternoon adventures with Lucy, talking over the top of each other as only excited little children can as Madelynn listened, nodding and laughing appropriately.  Finally they settled down, taking big draughts on the water skin and sitting beside her as she spread their lunch before them on the blanket.  They tucked in, eating heartily, until Eva's observant green eyes noticed something.  "Look, Mama, smoke!" she exclaimed, pointing north.       The family looked in the direction she was pointing, and sure enough, they could see several wisps of smoke rising above the tree line in several different areas.  Madelynn frowned, not pleased by the indications of the smoke.  Maybe it was just smoke from some distant settler's cabins, she thought... in the middle of a scorching autumn afternoon. She doubted that, and hoped that if it was a forest fire, it would go out naturally when the dew chilled everything at nightfall.      Eventually, full and content, the family loaded up and headed back towards home. They arrived back at the cabin within the hour.  The children took their belongings inside to put them away while Madelynn unloaded the heavier groceries.  Eventually, with everything in it's place, she led Penny towards the corral, unhitched the wagon, unbridled her horse and put the tack back in the barn.  She looked northwards, that strange sensation putting a tickle of fear in her brain, but couldn't see past the tops of the trees. Curious, she climbed onto the barn roof via the corral fence, and from the top she could see the smoke.  It wasn't just a few plumes anymore, but big billows of black smoke, and it looked closer.     That evening, she tucked the children into their beds.  She read some poetry to them from her book, kissed their little foreheads, and turned down the lanterns.  She read from the family Bible a while, taking solace in it's words as she started to get drowsy.  Leaning back in her rocking chair, she wondered what her husband was doing.  It had been over a year since he had left.     When the war had started, they both had expected it not to last long.  They had already decided to move from their home in Virginia and seek a new kind of life, one less concerned with politics, French fashion and s*****y, and one where they could start brand new with their children, in an area unpolluted by the things of man.  Heading westward, they fell in love with the Rocky Mountains, which were unlike anything they had ever seen before.  The towering, snow-capped peaks covered in huge evergreen trees, rushing rivers, and vast lakes teeming with fish, absolutely bewitched them.  They found the small settlement of New Haven during their journey, which had been established a few years earlier, and decided to try their luck at homesteading.       It had been Jacob, her tall, handsome, scruffy, capable man, that had found the site for their cabin.  As he had been hunting some game, he had come across a clearing.  "It was like magic," he told her later.  "The sun was streaming down on that spot and the birds were singing their symphony, and I just knew it was the place for us."      But that had been two years ago and the war had continued.  A call went out for more military to join the cause and defeat the South.  Feeling it was his patriotic duty as a gunman and sharp-shooter, Jacob left in the following spring of 1863.  It had been one year and 4 months since she had seen her husband.     She had become the sole provider for her family since then, becoming skilled and masterful at the rifle, and fishing, and even some trapping.  Her gardening skills had grown as well.  Between what she caught, shot and grew, she kept her little family alive and thriving.  But she missed Jacob terribly.  Never had she imagined that she would raise their children alone.  And the longer he had been gone, the more rare his responses to her letters got.  It had been two months since their last correspondence and she just prayed that he was still alive and healthy.     Finally, almost asleep, Madelynn hoisted herself from the chair and shut down the cabin for the night.  She could hear Penny nickering uneasily in the barn, and wondered briefly if there was a predator nearby, but Mudd lay near the front door, unperturbed by the noise of his equine companion.  She lay down in her bed and finally fell into a deep and restful slumber.     Madelynn woke up in a panic, a horrendous roaring sound in her ears.  It sounded like Penny was fighting something, for she could hear her kicking what sounded like the corral and screaming in fear.  Mudd was scratching at the front door, growling and barking at the noise. In a flash, Madelynn threw open the front door and stared in absolute terror at the view in front of her.      The forest to the north was glowing hotly and smoke was billowing above the red light.  The roaring sound was coming from that direction, and a wind was streaming towards her, hot and suffocating.  Suddenly the commotion from the chickens and the mare snapped her out of her stupor. With a slam, Penny finally kicked open the gate and bolted past her, racing southwards in an attempt to escape the approaching blaze.  Madelynn threw open the door to the coop as well, hoping against all hope that the animals would be able to escape in time.     Madelynn dashed back inside, her faithful hound at her heels.  She screamed at the children to wake up and dress as she threw together a bag of supplies.  She knew they only had minutes to spare before they needed to head for the nearest river. "What is it Mommy?" asked an extremely sleepy  Eva.  "Get dressed this instant!  Shoes! Coats! Hurry! We have to leave NOW!!!" she hollered,      Noticing the terror in his mother's voice, Devin didn't hesitate.  He threw on his clothes as quickly as he could. Madelynn dressed herself, shoved Eva into her clothing, and slung the bag and rifle over her shoulder.  She scooped up Eva in her arms, headed for the door.  Devin froze in fear at the sight of the approaching fire. "You have to run as fast as you can.  We have to make it to the river.  Now go!" and with a push on his shoulder, the family sped around the cabin and headed south.  Madelynn prayed against all odds as they ran.  Weighed down by her daughter, and with a four-year old setting the pace, she questioned if they would make it in time.