Frozen

Tillie wrapped the shawl around her face tighter, hoping to block the wind out. But, the wind found its way through any clothing, helping the already cold December day steal away all warmth. She grumbled to herself as she walked along the wooded path. Why had she not gone to get the supplies her mother needed the day before. It was cold yesterday, but at least the sun was shining and that made a big difference. Today the sun was hidden behind thick clouds preventing the warm rays from reaching her. And, there was the wind, the wind blew all the time here. She thought the wind had been bad back in Chicago, but here it was miserable. She had come to accept the constant howling it produced, but in the winter months she cursed it daily. It found its way through any crack in the cabin, it whistled down the chimney threatening the fire, it blew great mounds of snow across the front porch and walkways. She kicked at a drift working hard to cover the trail, only to be greeted by a spray of the white powder in her face as the wind caught hold of her frustration.

“Well,” she hissed, “I should have known better than to mess with you.”

Off she marched picking up her pace annoyed that her mother had made her wear the hoops under her dress. She mimicked her mother in a mocking tone, “Now dear, you’re going into society, you’ll want to look your best. What if you come across a fine young gentleman.”

“Ha,” she thought, “there was hardly any society to speak of here, even with more people coming in as the railway approached them it was still a far cry from Chicago. And she certainly wouldn’t call the men around here gentlemen, just rough and tough dirty men who would rather a woman who could wrangle a cow than parade around in a fancy dress.” With that exclamation she took an extra long stride to somehow exaggerate the point and found herself flat on her bottom.

“Ugh,” she slapped the ground and began her awkward attempt to get up. Thank goodness no one was around to see those most unlady-like positions she had to put herself in to make it up. She brushed the snow off, straightened her dress and went on her way, a bit more cautious now. Her grumpy mood continued to grow with each step she took. What was her mother thinking sending her off on her own with rumors of increased indian attacks in the area. Why did her father even drag them out here? They were fine and happy in Chicago, but he had convinced them of the wonders of the west and how the clean mountain air would do marvels for their lungs. She could hear his voice and pictured the excitement in his eyes, “there’s great opportunity out there for a family to have land of their own as become wealthy.”

Her mother had been reluctant, having always been a city girl herself. Tillie was just 12 when he started talking about the move. The government had passed the Homestead Act and her father had big dreams. He had heard tales of vast land to raise cattle where the grass fed them year round. He spoke daily of how wonderful it would be, they would have acres of land and become rich raising and selling the cattle.

It took a year, but he finally convinced her mother this was the right path for them to take. They sold most everything they had, said goodbye to friends, and headed west with a few head of cattle. It took over two months for them to reach the land of her father's dreams. Tillie remembered looking out over miles of what seemed like nothing to her, and she cried for days, begging them to take her back home. Instead her father put her to work helping him build the little one room cabin before that first winter hit. She finally gave up asking to go back and began to accept this as her new home. A few others had settled in the area that next spring, thankfully one family had a girl, Vivian, her age. Vivian became her life line and the only thing that helped her make it through, especially the winter of 1865 when her father became very ill and passed away.

Tillie had begun her pleas again to return to their old home, but her mom refused to leave her father. She didn’t understand her mother’s need to stay near the grave, but she knew there was no way to change her mother’s mind once it had been made up. They sold the small herd of cattle to survive at first and eventually her mother started trading laundry and clothing repair services for goods. They had made it thus far, but Tillie was looking forward to the day she could leave this place. She had no idea how it was going to happen, but she was going to get out of here. She and Vivian had all kinds of plans for what they were going to do, it was just the how to make it all happen part they hadn’t worked out yet.

Tellie’s sour reminiscing came to a pause when she reached the pond. She was cold and tired; as she looked back and forth between the pond and the path that went around it she made an instant decision. There was a small path in the snow on the frozen pond, so she figured it was frozen well enough to walk across. Her poor mood lifted a little as she started out on the ice thinking it would save her a good 15 minutes.

Part way across she heard the ice cracking beneath her feet, fear seeped into her heart and she stood stuck to the spot unsure if she should continue or flee back the way she came. Finally, she took a tentative step back and suddenly the ice gave way and down she went. Those cumbersome hoops stayed on top of the ice at first and she fell through them. The intensity of the cold took her breath away, but then she started frantically reaching and grabbing at anything hoping to find some hold to pull herself out. She grabbed the wires that made the hoops and thought for a moment they would actually save her, but then the ice gave way around the hoops as well. The water quickly soaked into her clothing and she realized that even if she could get hold of something there was no way she was pulling herself out. “I’m going to die,” she kept repeating in her mind. “I’m not ready to die,” her mind screamed. “I don’t want to die,” she thought as her head sank under the icy water and into the folds of her skirt. She tried to wave her hands around wildly and managed to pop her head up but the gasp of air she hoped for didn’t happen. She was going down again and her strength was spent. Her face was covered with water and clothing, she struggled for a moment more but everything was getting blurring, and her lungs were burning for fresh air.

The next thing she knew she was being jerked hard. A burst of cold wind hit her face and she started spitting out water wishing it would stop coming so she could breath. She was vaguely aware of a deep voice next to her saying, “It’s ok, you're ok now.” She finally took in a deep breath, but immediately began coughing. She rolled on her back shaking uncontrollably. The last thing she saw was large, beautiful, caring, brown eyes looking over her before she closed her eyes feeling so exhausted and cold.

When she opened her eyes again she was in an unfamiliar place covered by a thick quilt. She tried to sit up, and suddenly large hands were there helping her. She looked up and saw those same beautiful brown eyes full of worry. That same deep voice she vaguely remembered spoke, “I am very glad you are ok. How are you feeling?”

How was she feeling? The question rang in her ears and she was not sure of the answer. Hesitantly she spoke, “I um I think I am ok. Thank you so much.”

“I am just very glad I saw you go down, but sorry it took so long to reach you. I had to make sure we both didn’t end up in that frozen grave.”

“Yes,” Tillie said, “yes, that would not have been good.” Looking into those gorgeous brown eyes, the thought crossed her mind that perhaps falling into that frozen pond was not such a bad thing after all.

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If you enjoyed this cute start of a relationship check out this other story about first meetings.