The water was only two feet deep, and normally wouldnât have posed a risk of death to anyone. Today though the temperature was below freezing and a thin covering of ice made two feet more dangerous than twenty. Harry was soaked from the neck down. The only part of his body still dry was his head, and it wasnât keeping him from freezing quickly.
âIâm sorry, Harry,â Julie said as she reached out and tried pulling him from the icy water. The air temperature was about twenty degrees Fahrenheit. When the temperature had plummeted the day before the ice had frozen only enough to hide the danger; parts of the stream were still running free.
âI slipped and lost control and,â Julie was saying as she was pulling herself back to the shore while at the same time trying to get Harry out of the water. She was falling over her own skis as she trying to help Harry; Harryâs skies were stuck half in and out of the water.
âItâs ok Julie,â he said as he tried to stand in the two feet of frozen water around him and get back up onto solid ground. âIt could have happened to anyone,â Harry said as he reached down and undid the binding on one ski and succeeded in getting his wet body partly out of the water.
With the help of his now free foot he managed to step on the other binding and release himself from his newly transformed water skis. Taking Julies offered hand he pulled himself up and out of the water and onto the ice where he momentarily froze in place. Jerking free he managed to push Julie and pull himself in a sort of bizarre dance across a few feet of ice and onto the shore.
Harry looked up the trail at their path and realized that it wasnât anyoneâs fault. The wind whistling across the stream would have turned here at the bend where the pool had formed and swept across the exposed part of the trail, sweeping most of the snow off of it. Old icy snow was all that covered the part of the trail where Julie had tried to slow down and failed. She had slipped onto her ass and slid down the slope tw feet to the point where Harry had stopped when heâd heard her yell.
He had turned to look and sheâd hit him, knocking him onto his ass and then heâd proceeded to slide back onto the bank of the stream and out across the ice. The ice had only been thick near the bank where the stream had naturally pooled. Harry had stopped sliding about six feet from the shore. Heâd lain motionless for about two seconds before the ice gave up and his plunge had occurred.
Julie and Harry were deep in the North Woods, a couple of miles from their cabin and he was soaked to the bone. Julie was wet too, but thankfully only her lower legs were soaked through from trying to pull Harry out.
Harry felt himself begin to shiver violently as he assessed their situation. Julie would probably be ok, but heâd have to find shelter and warmth within ten minutes if he was going to survive. Bending over he tried to see if he could get his skis back on and quickly realized that the water had soaked the bindings and made them useless.
âWeâve got to get you out of those wet clothes quickly,â Julie said as she watched Harryâs pathetic attempt to put his skiâs back on. A shiver rippled up and down her spine as she realized the direness of their circumstances.
âI think I remember seeing a little ram shackled, ancient cabin up the trail a little ways,â Harry offered up this thought as a faint glimmer of hope. He stood up and his already freezing pants and jacket added more of a challenge to the walk ahead. Julie was standing up now, on her skiâs watching him and wondering what to do. The trail ahead was fairly level and wide, and her skis were still working.
âMaybe you could stand behind me and hold on and we can try to ski on only my skis,â Julie suggested. Any other time, and in any other situation Harry would have found this suggestion funny and quickly made a joke about it; right now he was willing to try anything. He stepped behind Julie and, pressing himself against her, held on as they started.
Had anyone been watching they would have rolled down the hill laughing. Julie and Harry were the most ungainly sight as they attempted to ski together on one pair of skis. It did work a bit though, so Harry wasnât going to complain. It was better than walking, and Julie was keeping him warm and a bit out of the breeze.
Julie quickly realized that not only was Harry completely soaked, but he was shivering violently; trying as hard as she could Julie attempted to make haste as she skied down the trail. It was ungainly, but they were making more progress then they could have just by walking. Within a few minutes they had covered about 1000 yards, and she was starting to getting worried as to how far this supposed cabin Harry remembered was. If they didnât find it soon, theyâd have to stop somewhere and attempt to start a fire to warm themselves up.
âItâs got to be just around the next bend,â Harry whispered into Julieâs ear, his voice quivering with cold shivers. He hoped he was right. He needed to be right if he was going to last much longer. Harry felt his eyes closing as they trudged along.
âI think I see something,â he heard Julie shout just as he had closed his eyes. âBack there underneath the trees, do you see it,â she was asking him.
Harry looked where she was gazing and thought he also saw something. He did. It was the cabin he vaguely remembered having seen a couple of years back. It was in worse shape then he recalled. They turned off the trail and hopped off the skis to get through the undergrowth that blocked their way. In less than two minutes they reached the cabin. It was locked.
Nestled in the ring of trees, overgrowth having obscured most of the cabin as the forest attempted to reclaim itsâ wood, Harry was amazed that Julie had seen it. It was even more amazing that despite its derelict shape it still had all of its windows intact and the door was locked. Harry paused to ponder how they were going to get in when his numb mind was rewarded with the sharp crack of breaking glass. Julie had used one of her ski poles to break a pane in the window and was reaching inside to unlock it. Harry watched as if he was a detached bystander as she then tried to lift the unlocked sash up. It wouldnât budge.
âHarry, help me,â she said, âI donât think I can get it up by myself,â she was looking at Harry and he was looking at her but his cold fogged mind didnât seem to register anything that she was saying. âHarry! Help me open the window,â she shouted at him. He either heard her or at least finally figured out what she was trying to do and came over to offer his pathetic help. Working together they managed to break the combination of old age, decay and layers of paint free that were holding the window shut. It creaked like a tree branch falling free and slowly went up. Julie quickly scampered over the window sill and into the cabin. Harry stood there watching and not watching at the same time. He was cold and only getting colder.
The door opened and Julie popped her head out. âCome on,â she said, âthereâs a fireplace, some wood and a bed,â she said to Harry who was staring at the open window as if wondering where sheâd gone and if he should follow. Julie cringed as she realized how long he had been exposed to the cold, and how much it was affecting him. Walking quickly to him she grabbed him around the waist and led him into the cabin.
It was musty smelling and old. Amazingly it was dry and not leaking snow, water or air except through the open and broken window. Harry saw the old handmade wooden bed in the corner, complete with a broken mattress, sheets and a blanket. The only logical thought to enter his mind in some time was that they just might stand a chance. He thought this as Julie led him to the bed.
âYouâre too cold to last much longer Harry,â she was saying as she pulled the bed sheets back. Surprisingly, it looked as if someone had left the cabin years ago thinking that they would be right back. Everything was in its place and made up as if the owner had just left. The only thing out of place was the dusty dankness that had accumulated when the owner hadnât returned in many years. She pushed Harry onto a chair next to the bed and started taking off his frozen boots and clothes.
âHarry,â she was saying to himâhe wasnât really realizing it. He was like a newborn toddler whose eyes drifted around looking for what the sound was.
âHarry, you have to get out of these clothes and Iâm going to try to start a fire,â she was saying as she pulled his head up level with hers, her eyes boring into his frozen brain and lighting just a flicker of recognition. Harry nodded as Julie turned to the fire.
Harry slowly tried to take off his clothes but he wasnât very fast. He was watching Julie build a fire with the dry kindling and firewood stacked in front of the fireplace. In the time it took her to get the fire built he managed to half remove his jacket.