Private Rogue

Chapter 15

The weather had turned, and heavy snow tumbled in a swirling, blinding cascade as Beth steered Ted’s Buick east along I-80. She was crawling behind a long and steady stream of traffic. Two lanes of red lights stretched into the distance before being lost to the white storm. Beth squinted, but it was getting increasingly difficult to see. There had been an accident on the other side of the interstate. Two lines of vehicles were at a standstill behind the wreckage of a pileup. Police and paramedics were on the scene, and the flashing lights of their vehicles gave everything an ethereal, purple tint.

Beth and the children had been on the road for hours but had only traveled a hundred and fifty miles. Their slow progress had taken its toll on the children, and Danny had been complaining about feeling car sick for the past forty-five minutes.

“How much longer, Mom?” Maria asked.

“My tummy hurts,” Danny added.

“Why don’t you swap with your sister?” Beth suggested.

“I don’t want to go in the back,” Maria protested. “I’ll feel sick.”

“But it’s OK for me to,” Danny snapped back.

“How much farther?” Maria pressed.

The journey from Garrison to Chicago should have taken twelve hours, but at this rate they’d be on the road for days. Beth was trying to reach Connor Reid, one of her oldest friends, but she knew it was foolish to think she could push through this weather.

“Mom, I really think I’m going to be sick,” Danny said, and when she glanced in the rear- view mirror, Beth saw he’d turned a grim shade of green.

She opened the windows to swap some of the stuffy heater air for an icy blast. She signaled, and forced her way onto the shoulder. The car slid and slipped as it came into contact with the icy slush massing at the edge of the highway. She steered into the skid and brought the vehicle to a halt.

Danny jumped out and leaned against the rear wing, gulping in deep breaths. Beth got out and grabbed his coat from the back seat. She threw it over his shoulders and stroked his shoulder.

“Don’t fight it,” she said, and then realized he was sobbing. “It’s OK, Danny. It’s OK.” She stroked his hair. “We’re going to stop for the day.”

Beth glanced around and over the tops of the passing cars. Through the thick flurries she saw a brightly lit sign for the Relax Inn, Bloomsburg.

Danny looked up with wild fear in his eyes. “I don’t want to stop. I want to get to Uncle Connor’s.”

“It’s OK,” Beth assured him. “We’ll find somewhere safe and wait out the storm. How are you feeling?”

“A little better.”

“Think you can handle a short drive?”

Danny nodded and wiped his eyes.

“That’s my little soldier,” she said, crouching to give him a hug.

He turned to climb in the back, but found his sister grinning at him.

“If I’d known you were going to make such a fuss, I would have let you have the front seat in the first place.”

Beth grinned at her. Maria loved her little brother, but made a real effort not to let him know that.

“What do you say, Danny?” Beth asked, but before he could reply, Maria cut in.

“Oh, it’s OK, Mom. I don’t want his thanks. I’m only doing this so I don’t have to listen to his whining.”

Beth shook her head, and Danny frowned as he clambered in the front seat. He buckled himself in while Beth jogged round the car and got in.

“We’re going to stop until the storm passes,” she told Maria.

Beth started the car and eased back into the line of traffic heading for the next exit.