Read Cold Snow: A Legal Thriller for Free Online Page B

home on the same night?"
     
    Jake yelled, "I'm not running away! I'm only here so you don't get killed on the way to Canada."
     
    Canada?, Sarah thought. That would be perfect. "You're going to Canada? Can I, um…"
     
    "No, you can't come with us," Alex said. "Our supplies," he indicated the backpacks, "are stretched enough as it is. And besides, I'm still not sure if you're a friend or foe. Do you know my father?"
     
    "Roland? I've never even met him. Besides, if he wanted to find you, he'd hire a tracker, not an eleven-year-old orphan with no training."
     
    "She has a point," Jake said.
     
    Alex hesitated. "Fine," he relented, "but we'll have to live on very rationed supplies until we get to Ridge City. Who are you?"
     
    "Sarah Jones," Sarah said, extending her hand.
     
    "You already know," Alex said, withholding his.
     
    "Jake Harwell," Jake shook Sarah's hand.
     
    "Here's what we're going to be doing," Alex said, unfolding the map. "First of all, walking, unless by some miracle we can get transportation. Second, we'll be taking this highlighted route."
     
    Sarah studied the map, tracing the black line along I-81 and down a US road. The destination surprised her.
     
    "Where does Niagara Falls come into this?"
     
    "It's the easiest place to cross the St. Lawrence, and probably where we'll be parting. Jake is coming back here to Woodsbrook, and you," he looked up at Sarah, "will be on your own."
     
    "Lighten up, Alex," Jake yawned, returning to the comforting warmth of his sleeping bag. "You should be glad we'll have an extra traveling companion."
     
    "Hope you don't mind sleeping on the ground, Sarah." Alex unzipped his bag and climbed in.
     
    Sarah rested her head on Alex's backpack, but felt a cold lump. An unpleasant thought occurred to her. "Alex, are you carrying a gun?"
     
    "In case you hadn't noticed, Ms. Jones," Alex snapped, "we are all, as of now, official wanted criminals. In case you also hadn't noticed, it's midnight, and I'm trying to sleep. Good night."
     
    They were all asleep within minutes, and the next morning was a hard one for everybody.
     
     
     
    Alex, waking, watched the sun rise, and wished it was as easy for him to do the same thing. The sun, he figured, could rise assured that it would destroy everything that opposed it and would take hundreds of thousands of years to starve to death. He suddenly realized the stupidity of taking on this unwelcome fellow traveler. Briefly, he considered dragging her to the edge of the park while he was the only one awake; but Jake would disapprove. For some reason, his friend seemed to think the new recruit could really help them. Alex had yet to know why.
     
    Jake beheld the dawn, and seeing Alex already awake, mused over what he had against Sarah. Granted, she would stretch their supplies, but companionship was important on journeys like this. Besides that, though, he had a strange feeling they would need her. Maybe she knew something they didn't…time would tell.
     
    When Sarah awoke, Alex and Jake were already packing. Jake seemed eager to leave, but Alex—she wasn't so sure. He looked worried about something.
     
    "I don't know," Alex was saying. "I'm having misgivings. Is leaving really the right thing to do…"
     
    "You've got to be kidding me, Alex!" Jake sounded exasperated. "Why didn't you wait until a month ago?"
     
    "It's the only place I've ever known. I…I've never even left. I'm just not sure I can do it."
     
    "You sure were eager last night!"
     
    "It's okay for you! You just have to walk a few hundred miles along I-81! This looked so much easier in the drawings! Do you have any idea how far I'll have to walk? Over a thousand miles! Through Canadian wasteland! It's hopeless!"
     
    "What about Ridge City? You were telling me the entire plan revolved around Ridge City!"
     
    "It's pointless! You were right! Ridge City is useless. A worthless Canadian burg."
     
    "Damn it, Alex!" Sarah was unaware that she had risen. "You