Chapter 3

The guest rooms at the lodge were all put back together. The cleaning service she used for the lodge had come and gone, and Marley was looking forward to getting the lodge back open, but there were still things to do before that happened.

This morning, she’d had Jack bring up the last of the bushels of apples she’d been storing in the basement, and now she and Wanda were in the process of making apple butter. They had two automated apple peelers going and two big pots of applesauce and spices cooking down into the thick, brown jam it would become, and a table full of sparkling-clean canning jars ready to fill with the finished product.

Wanda had the radio tuned into a station playing Christmas songs and was singing “The Little Drummer Boy” with the singer on the radio. Jack was outside clearing off the light snowfall they’d had last night from the sidewalks and the steps on the covered porch spanning the length of the house, and Marley was at the stove, keeping an eye on the pots of simmering apple butter, stirring it now and then to keep it from sticking.

“This smells so good,” she said as she dipped a spoonful out of one of the pots and put it on a saucer to cool. It wasn’t just to taste, but to test the cooled consistency of the spicy jam to see how close that pot was to being done.

“It sure does, Bug. One of your hot biscuits and a spoonful of your jams is the way to a man’s heart,” Wanda said.

“I’ve fed a whole bunch of men in my life, and not one of them has stuck,” Marley muttered.

“That’s because you keep shooing them away like pesky flies,” Wanda said.

Marley laughed. “Maybe it’s the name. Maybe a Bug and a fly can’t be friends.”

Wanda giggled and then cored the apple she’d just peeled, cut it into quarters, and dropped it in yet another pot to cook down in the consistency needed to turn it into sauce.

Marley glanced over her shoulder. “How many left to peel?” she asked.

“Less than a peck,” Wanda said. “We’re making good time, honey. There will be jars of apple butter cooling and sealing all over the kitchen.”

“There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing those lids pop as they seal,” Marley added. “In a day or two, we’ll get them down into the basement and on the shelves with the rest of the jams and jellies.”

“Your daddy putting in that freight elevator from the kitchen to the basement was the handiest thing he ever did here,” Wanda said.

“Agreed,” Marley said, and tested the spoonful of cooling apple butter with her finger. It was already beginning to set up. She grabbed a clean spoon and took a little taste, then rolled her eyes. “Umm, perfect. Let’s get some jars. This is ready.”

It was hours later before their last pot of apple butter had cooked down and been canned. Jack and Wanda had gone home with a pint of fresh apple butter, and Marley was kicked back in front of the fireplace with a plate of buttered toast and a little dish of the spicy jam she’d saved back. Nutritionally, it was lacking in protein, but it was satisfying to her soul.

She was watching the evening news as she ate, while waiting for the weather report. She quit eating when she ran out of toast, then got up and carried her dishes into the kitchen and stayed to make herself something to drink and, as she did, missed a rebroadcast of the “Searching for Cinderella” story.

By the time she came back, they’d gone to a commercial break. She plopped down with her glass of iced tea just in time to see the weather report. Satisfied that there were no imminent warnings, she decided to drive into the city tomorrow and do a little Christmas shopping.

***

Trey’s television was on, but he wasn’t paying attention to the program. Instead, he was staring into the flames in his fireplace. The fire was real. The logs were not. They were made of refractory cement. He knew because he’d looked it up once. But it was as warm and pseudo cozy as being alone at a fireside could be. He was consoling himself with a shot of bourbon because he was getting nowhere with his search. In the past five days, he’d gone through thousands of Cinderella emails to no avail and was at the point of accepting this might not work after all.

Finally, he downed the last of his bourbon and headed for bed. Just before he turned out the light, he glanced at the shoe and realized he had it turned in such a fashion that it appeared to be moving away from him. In a flight of fancy, he turned the shoe around until it was pointed straight at him.

“Okay, little angel. Do your thing. Walk this way.”

Then he turned out the lights and crawled into bed.

***

Marley was so tired when she went to bed that for the first time since the wreck, she slept without dreaming, and woke as the first rays of sun were sweeping across the mountain.

“It’s morning, Ladybug. Up and at ’em,” she muttered.

It was her homage to her father, who’d always been the one to wake her when she was a kid, and ever since she’d come back to the lodge, it had become her personal ritual. After that, she threw back the covers and headed for the shower. Jack and Wanda would be here later, and she wanted to be ready and waiting when they began boxing up jars of apple butter to move to the basement.

She dressed quickly and headed to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, then while it was brewing, made herself a bowl of cereal and opened her laptop to check emails as she ate, eventually winding up reading through social media instead. She rarely had time to indulge, but this morning she opened Facebook to check out the comments on the Corbett Lodge page, then began scrolling through the random posts.

And that’s when she saw the picture of the red shoe, saw the photo of the man from the wreck, and read the story beneath it. The hair was standing up on the back of her neck, and her heart was pounding, and then she read it again with tears in her eyes.

“Oh. My. God.”

Her first instinct was to answer. She wanted to hear his voice. To see the color of his eyes. She thought they were dark, but she wasn’t sure. It was obvious he’d healed, or he wouldn’t be involved in this search, but there was a moment when she hesitated, and as she did, she heard a voice.

You have to do this.

Still shaken, she carried her dishes to the sink and loaded them in the dishwasher. Before she could gather her wits, she heard Jack’s truck coming up the drive and closed her laptop. This was for later, after Jack and Wanda were gone.

They came in through the back entrance as usual.

“Morning, Bug. Are you ready to get at this?” Jack asked.

“I need to be ready. There isn’t an empty surface anywhere in the entire kitchen,” Marley said.

“I’ll go down and get the dolly and the boxes,” Jack said. “We’ll have this done in no time.”

“After this is finished, if you’ll bring down the Christmas tree from the attic and set it up in the center of the lobby like always, I would appreciate it. I want to go into the city while the weather is still holding and finish my Christmas shopping.”

“If you want, we can decorate it, too, while you’re gone,” Wanda said.

Marley sighed. “That would be a huge help. I’m too freaking short for anything.”

Jack grinned and tugged at the ponytail of the hair she’d piled high on her head. “That’s why your daddy called you Ladybug. Because you were so little and cute. Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ve got you.”

“I’m coming with you to the basement,” Wanda said.

Jack winked. “Awesome. Great place to sneak a little kiss.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to sneak anything from me. We live together.”

Jack laughed and swatted her backside as they headed down the hall toward the freight elevator.

Marley watched them going with a combination of jealousy and joy.

“I want that, too. What do I have to do to make this happen?” she muttered, then remembered the angels had already told her to answer the man who was searching for her, just like they’d sent her to save him. “I know, I know, you already told me. But you know how I am. Sometimes I need reinforcement before I act.”

But the whole time they were moving apple butter to the basement, all Marley could think about was that man—Trey Austin. At least now she knew his name. It didn’t dawn on her that he might have been conscious enough to see her, but now the tease of reuniting with a total stranger was both enticing and daunting.

It was just after 10:00 a.m. when they finished, and Jack and Wanda immediately headed for the attic to get the Christmas decor, while Marley changed clothes and drove into Colorado Springs. The decorated storefronts made the season even more festive, and she was soon caught up in the delight of shopping. Christmas dinner at the lodge wasn’t for the public. It wouldn’t be a big gathering, but it would be with people who meant the most to her, and the ones on the mountain who had no other place to go. It wasn’t charity. Just a gathering of friends and a few lost souls.

A new pocketknife for Jack. A bottle of Wanda’s favorite perfume. A pair of heavy-duty gloves for Craig, who cut and sold firewood for a living. A new turtle figurine for a friend who collected them, a new cookbook for another friend. Packets of beef jerky for two of the old-timers. Skeins of yarn for the two knitters in the group. But the gifts were always personal—something she knew they would like, something they would use or treasure. She skipped lunch to finish shopping and, as she was coming out of a shop, saw Jared Bedford watching her from the other side of the street and stopped.

Jared grinned at her and flipped her off.

She didn’t react. She just stood there staring until he finally walked away. Only then did she return to her car with her purchases. After that, she grabbed a Subway sandwich to go, and headed home.

She still needed to deal with the man who was searching for his Cinderella. She knew it was her shoe. She knew it was the man she’d saved, but was he her real Prince Charming, or did he already belong to someone else? There was only one way to find out.

***

The first thing she did when she got home was dump her purchases in the kitchen, then hurry into the great room to add a log to the fire before going to get a closer look at the tree in the lobby.

Immediately dwarfed by the size, she looked up at the angel on top and smiled.

“There you are,” she said softly.

It was the same angel that had been on her grandparents’ Christmas trees, and then her parents’, and now hers. Seeing it was almost like having them with her again, if only in her heart.

The tree itself was ablaze with twinkling lights, while the limbs were entwined with gold and silver garlands and four generations of ornaments, including a ladybug ornament commemorating Marley’s first Christmas.

She remembered the Santa ornament she’d brought back from the craft fair and ran to get it, then searched the tree for the perfect spot and hung it, then stepped back for a broader view.

“Welcome to the tree, little Santa,” she said, and then turned to look about the room.

Jack and Wanda had made it beautiful, even adding holly garlands on the staircase and more garland and candles over the mantel on the fireplace. But her tummy was rumbling, a reminder she still hadn’t eaten, and her sandwich was waiting, so she went back into the kitchen, her footsteps echoing in the empty lodge.

She turned on the TV in the kitchen for company, and the entire time she was eating, she was also thinking of how to respond to the man with her shoe.

***

It was nightfall before she finally sat down at her computer, uploaded a selfie she’d just taken of herself, and instead of going down the list of questions she should have answered, she just started writing, as if she was talking.

Hello, Trey Austin. It’s me, Cinderella, a.k.a. Marley Corbett. I’m sorry I didn’t see your story earlier. I don’t get online much, and I’ve been busy. I sent the photo as requested, but I didn’t know that you’d even seen me, and other than a drowned rat, I can’t imagine what I must have looked like in that storm.

Until I saw the picture of the shoe, I’d completely forgotten about shoving the matching one beneath the seat in my car. In fact, it’s still there, and except for what might have fallen off, still caked with mud.

I’m so happy to know you are okay. After the deputy moved me out of the way and the EMTs took over, all I could think about was getting into my car and out of the storm. It was so very cold.

I think I was in something of a daze myself because I didn’t realize I’d lost a shoe. I just started the car and drove away. It wasn’t until I stopped for gas in Fort Smith that I saw it was gone. So, Prince Charming, I guess your search is over.

I am including my phone number for your convenience.

She read it through again, then hit Send before she changed her mind.

She had no idea how long it would take to get an answer, or if he’d already given up and gotten over the need to find her. But she had no control over what happened next. Either he’d contact her, or he wouldn’t.

She’d already wrapped the little gifts she’d bought today and placed them under the tree, and she was ready to call it a night, so she went through the lodge locking up, turning on night-lights, and setting the security alarm. She left the tree lights blinking and, as she started down the hall to her room, paused and turned around.

Everything was in shadows.

The fire in the fireplace had burned down to embers.

The fire screen was in place, but the faint scent of woodsmoke lingered in the room.

A faint blue glow from the full moon was coming through the windows, turning the room into a land of familiar shapes and shadows, while the Christmas tree blinked a good night.

“Night, Mom. Night, Daddy. Miss you,” she whispered, then turned her back on the day.

***

Jared Bedford was sitting in his apartment, well on his way to getting drunk. Marley Corbett had stared him down, and he’d turned tail and walked away. He didn’t know what made him angrier. The fact that she wasn’t afraid. Or that he didn’t have the guts to follow through on all his threats.

He upended the beer he was holding and drank what was left. That little bit of liquid courage rallied his ego.

He would, by God, follow through, and soon. He just needed to find the right time.

After the time he’d spent inside the lodge, he already knew how to make it look like she’d just disappeared, and he knew where he was going to hide what was left of her when it was over.

***

Trey had waffled all day about attending an early Christmas event at a local country club, and almost talked himself out of it. Then at the last minute, he dressed for the event and went anyway.

His choices were to either participate in the life he’d been given or accept that he was becoming a hermit, happy only when he was lost in the storytelling of another mystery. At any rate, attending the event would solve trying to figure out what to have for dinner. And instead of driving himself, he called an Uber. Just in case he was tempted by a glass or two of wine.

To his surprise, upon arrival he was actually glad he’d gone. He was met at the door by Frank and Carrie, the host and hostess, and immediately became the topic of conversation.

“Trey! So glad you are up and about and felt like coming! Have you had any luck finding your Cinderella?” Carrie asked.

“Regretfully, I have not,” Trey said.

“No matter. There are plenty of young women here who would gladly step into those shoes,” Frank said, and then laughed at his own pun.

“Enjoy the evening,” Carrie said.

“Thanks, I will,” he said, and snagged a glass of wine from a waiter’s tray as he moved through the crowded room.

The muted murmuring of guests overlaid the music coming from somewhere up above their heads. He saw people who were vaguely familiar, and some who were total strangers.

Quite a few had already separated into little groups, while the pretty people moved around the room like colorful peacocks, strutting from place to place.

As the evening went on, the event would have been perfect but for the steady stream of single women who had no qualms about telegraphing what they wanted from him.

They didn’t really know him, but by single status alone, and the fact he was the only child of extremely wealthy parents, they saw him as a “catch.” He was satisfied with that false narrative. His pseudonym, Chapel Hill, was the wall behind which he lived and breathed.

The evening ended with a serve-yourself buffet, and then the hunt began to find a place to sit and eat without being propositioned.

A friend from the gym rescued him from two clingy women and invited him to a little corner table with him and his wife. When Trey finally sat down with his plate, he moved a holly ring and candle to the side to set his plate down and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Gary. I owe you.”

Gary’s wife, Addy, laughed. “It’s your own fault for being so damn pretty and, I might add, also single.”

“I was born with the face, but being single is by choice,” Trey drawled.

The conversation shifted to other things. He picked at his food, using it as an excuse not to talk. He mostly just listened and nodded in all the right places until he was ready to call it a night.

The party was still going strong when he called for an Uber. He said his goodbyes and left the party. A few minutes later, he was on his way home.

His Uber driver was a regular and knew Trey wasn’t a talker, so the drive home was quiet, although the streets were busy. The headlights coming toward them from the opposite direction looked like a string of pearls, and the Christmas decor on the streetlights and in the windows was a vivid reminder of another holiday he would only spend alone. But after the lively evening, Trey welcomed the silence. A short while later, he entered his house and reset the security alarm behind him.

He was home, but not yet ready for bed. He needed to unwind a bit, and after changing his party clothes for sweats, he grabbed a bottle of water and his laptop and kicked back on the sofa.

He hadn’t checked his Cinderella email all day, so he opened the email and started down the list of new messages. The first thing he looked at was the picture they’d sent, and then the questions they’d answered. It was easy to spot the shams. But it was also depressing. Every failure was a step farther from finding her.

He was fifteen minutes in when he opened the next email. And the moment he saw the face, then read the message, his heart skipped.

“It’s you! Oh my God, it’s you!”

His heart was hammering. He looked at the time stamp on when he’d received it and realized it was hours ago. He glanced at the time. It was late. He didn’t know where she lived. He didn’t know what time zone she was in. But she’d given him her phone number, and he couldn’t bear to wait another second to hear her voice again, so he reached for his phone.

***

Marley had been in bed watching a movie when she fell asleep. She was dreaming about making a snowman with her dad when her phone began to ring.

She woke with a start, saw the TV still on, and at first thought the ringing phone was from the television, until she realized it was the phone on the charger beside her bed. She hit Mute on the TV and saw Out of Area on the screen and knew before she answered that it would be him.

“Hello? Is this Marley Corbett?”

“Yes, this is Marley.”

“This is Trey Austin, the guy you pulled out of the wreck. I’m so sorry to be calling this late, but I was at a Christmas party and just got home to find your message. I’ve been looking for you for so long that I couldn’t wait another second to hear your voice.”

Marley liked the sound of his voice. “That’s okay. As I said in my letter to you, I had no idea you were looking.”

“I’m in Phoenix,” Trey said. “I need to see you face-to-face to thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my life. I’ll come to you. I’m bringing back your shoe. I’ll trade it for a hug. Where are you located? Is there a place nearby where I can stay? I don’t want to intrude upon your life. If you’re married, then bring your husband to feel safe. But I need to do this.”

Marley hesitated. This is where her trust of angel messages had to come into play. The unknown was always a little scary at first.

“I’m not married,” she said, and thought she heard him exhale, as if he’d been holding his breath.

“Neither am I,” he said.

She shivered. This was really happening.

“I live just outside Colorado Springs,” she said.

“I can drive that in a day. Can you recommend a place to stay?”

She hesitated again, and then plunged headfirst into the unknown of what this might be.

“I own and run a kind of B and B called Corbett Lodge. It’s fifteen minutes up the mountain from the city. You will be my guest. And, for the moment, my only guest. I’ve had the lodge shut down since before Thanksgiving for renovations in the guest rooms. I’m reopening to the public on New Year’s Day. I’ll send directions to your phone.”

“Thank you, Marley, thank you! Not sure what time I’ll arrive, but I’ll get a couple of hours’ sleep and then head your way.”

“There is a snowstorm predicted to hit this area. They said it should arrive around midnight tomorrow night… Oh…wait, it’s already tomorrow. Pack extra clothes just in case we get snowed in. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Thanks. I’ll pack and leave at daylight,” he said. “See you soon, and thank you again.”

“Safe travels,” she said, but he’d already ended the call.

She glanced at the clock again. The sun would be up in a few hours, and her first guest in the renovated lodge was on his way.

She quickly sent him directions, turned off the TV, and set her alarm for early rising. Even after she’d turned out the lights, she lay there thinking they’d met in a thunderstorm and would likely be meeting again in a snowstorm. Why all the chaos?

***

Trey was so excited that he barely slept.

He was packed and on the road before daylight, his GPS set with directions she’d given him to the lodge, and his sat phone on the seat beside him. He didn’t want to be caught without cell coverage, and he didn’t know how reliable coverage was, but he was about to find out.

It was I-40 to I-25 all the way to Colorado Springs, and then through the city and up the mountain, and he needed to get there before it began to snow. That was his plan. He didn’t know what Mother Nature had in mind.

***

The alarm Marley set last night went off at 7:00 a.m., but she was already in the shower. It was still beeping when she exited the bathroom to get dressed. She turned it off and turned on the TV to catch the morning weather report, and then got jeans and a sweater from her closet and got ready for the day. After putting her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head, she headed for the kitchen and began stirring up batter for blueberry muffins while she was waiting for the coffee to make, wondering if Trey Austin was already on the road. She hoped so because the predicted snowstorm into this area was moving faster than expected, and she couldn’t help but worry.

As soon as she had the muffins in the oven, she went to the fireplace to stir the embers and start a new fire, adding kindling until it caught. Once she had a good blaze, she added a log and went back to check the muffins. They were done.

“Perfect,” she said as she took them out and set them on a cooling rack. A couple of minutes later, Jack and Wanda walked in the back door. “Morning! Your timing is perfect. I just took blueberry muffins out of the oven.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Jack said.

Wanda rolled her eyes. “I just fed him.”

Marley laughed. “Oh, I don’t doubt that.” Then she thought of the visitor on the way and needed to let them in on what was happening. “Before you two get busy, come sit with me. I have something I need to tell you.”

Wanda frowned. “Are you in trouble, honey?”

“No, no, nothing bad. Come sit and I’ll explain.”

“I’m gonna need coffee, too,” Jack said.

As soon as they were at the kitchen table, Marley took a quick sip of her coffee and then folded her arms on the table and leaned forward.

“Have either of you heard anything about the story that’s been all over social media and the news about the man looking for Cinderella?”

“Yeah! I heard that on the news last week. The guy with the shoe, right?” Jack said.

She nodded. “So, that man is on his way to the lodge. He’s supposed to arrive some time tonight if he doesn’t get caught in the snowstorm somewhere.”

“Why didn’t you tell him it was closed?” Wanda asked.

“Because I’m the woman he’s been looking for. I’m his Cinderella.”

Wanda gasped. “What? What on earth do you mean?”

“I’m the one who pulled him out of the wreck. I’m the one who saved his life.” And then she began to explain how it had all happened, and how she’d driven away without knowing she’d left a shoe behind.

“Oh my lord, Bug! Why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Wanda asked.

Marley shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t know his name, and then they took him away, and I guess I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.”

“You’re something else, Bug,” Jack said. “Did you see the wreck happen, or—”

“Oh. Right. I didn’t tell you that part. No, I didn’t see it happen, and if I had stayed on the road I’d meant to take, I wouldn’t have found him,” she said.

“What made you change your route?” Jack asked.

“It was raining really hard, and I was coming up to a place where the road forked. I knew I was supposed to take the right fork, but all of a sudden there was this huge bright light within the rain, completely blocking the right fork. I knew it was an angel blocking my way, and that I was to take the other road, so I did and found him.”

Wanda sat, staring at Marley. “I don’t know how you came to have this connection, but you’ve been this way all your life. It used to freak Lisa out, listening to you tell what you’d seen and what you’d been told. She thought it was your imagination for the longest time, until she realized you were telling her things about people who died before you were born and telling her things that were going to happen before they did. Dan just accepted it as part of who you were.”

Marley nodded. “I know. I was little. I didn’t know how to explain anything. I just kept telling her it was the angels talking. She took me to multiple doctors because she wanted a rational explanation. I think she would rather I had been a little crazy than accept the reality of my life. But this is how I came into the world, and I apologize to no one for it. Anyway…the man’s name is Trey Austin. He is driving up from Phoenix, and he will be staying here for a day or so. Longer if we get snowed in.”

“Are you afraid? We can stay here, too,” Jack said.

“Jack, every person who’s stayed in this lodge was a stranger. Every family. Every couple. Men and women. Besides, the angels already told me it was okay. And you and Wanda can’t get snowed in here with me. You have your own home and pets to care for.”

“Well, I can always get here on the snowmobile if the need arises,” Jack said.

She grinned. “Yes, mister, I know that. Now, let’s get the morning stuff out of the way and then you two go home before the snow gets here, okay?”

“Deal,” Jack said. “I’ll move a good bit of wood in for the fireplace and then bring up a couple of ricks to the back porch. Oh, and I’ll make sure you have gas cans filled for the generator, just in case.”

“What do you want me to do?” Wanda asked.

“I thought I’d put Mr. Austin in the first suite at the head of the stairs, so would you fill the mini fridge with bottled water and soft drinks, and make sure the toiletries are in the bath, and a bath mat and fresh towels in there as well? I’m going to bake cookies for the room.”

They got up from the table and headed in different directions, while Marley carried their coffee cups to the sink, but then she paused and turned around. Before she did anything else, she needed to get that shoe out from beneath the car seat, so she grabbed a bag from the utility room and headed for the garage.

***

Trey had been on the road for hours, briefly stopping once to refuel and the next time to make a pit stop and get some food. He kept the radio in his car tuned in to the weather channel on Sirius XM, and his eye on the busy interstate.

But it seemed the farther he drove, the more road construction areas he drove through, which kept slowing him down, and that just led to frustration.

Now that he’d found the woman he’d been looking for, he felt impelled to hurry. It didn’t make sense, but he kept thinking if he didn’t get there on time, then she might disappear, and she’d be lost to him again. Logically, he knew a stranger shouldn’t matter this much, but she did.

He drove while the sun was setting in the west. After that, it was dark and headlights all the way. It was just after 9:00 p.m. when it began to snow. At best guess, he was a little over an hour outside of Colorado Springs.

At first, it was just tiny windblown flakes momentarily spotlighted by headlights that blew into the windshield, lasting only as long as it took for the wipers to clear them away. The farther north he drove, the heavier the snow fell, but the interstate traffic was still keeping the highways clear.

About thirty minutes outside of Colorado Springs, the snow had begun to accumulate and drift across the interstate, and at times, it was difficult to see the road, so he got behind a semi and followed the taillights, knowing that trucker knew this route far better than he did.

When the truck finally reached the city and pulled off into the lot of a big motel, Trey kept driving. Now he had the streetlights and Christmas lights to see by, and again, enough traffic in town to keep the main roads open.

He stopped to refuel at a gas station that was still open and had to brace himself against the wind and blowing snow as he filled up.

It wasn’t until he left the city and started up the mountain that he ran into snowpacked roads with no ruts and poor visibility. He was relying solely on the GPS to keep him from getting lost, and grateful the new Land Rover he was driving had four-wheel drive and snow tires.

What should have taken him less than fifteen minutes stretched into thirty because he’d slowed down to watch for the sign. She’d sent him a picture of the Corbett Lodge sign that was plainly visible on the west side of the road, but tonight, nothing was visible beyond ten feet in front of his headlights.

Then, just when he feared he might have passed his turn, he saw the CORBETT LODGE sign and took the turn. He couldn’t miss it now. This road led straight to the lodge. All he had to do was stay out of the ditches.