Snow realized soon enough why he wanted her trailing behind him. He made sure to clear somewhat of a path for her to follow. There was far too much snow for him to clear it enough to set a quick pace. It took time and effort to go only a short distance. At least it felt like a short distance. At the laborious rate they traveled, she thought it might have been wiser for them to remain at the cottage.

She didn’t give up, though, she kept going, her legs growing heavy with fatigue as she trudged through the snow. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the gray shadow that was Tarass. She feared being abandoned again. She stayed on his tail, taking step after endless step, while silently praying they would reach their destination soon.

A worry took hold when she noticed Tarass’s shadow had faded some. How had he gotten farther away from her? She rushed her step to catch up and felt her boot catch on something. She went flying forward so fast, she had no time to stop herself from toppling head first into the snow.

Tarass turned at the sound of the barking, shocked to see Snow’s face planted in the snow. He rushed to her. She was already struggling to stand when he reached her. With a firm grip on her arm, he got her to her feet and kept hold until she found firm footing.

“What happened?” he asked, wiping away the snow on her face.

She coughed and shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think I tripped over something.”

Thaw was still barking and digging furiously in the snow.

“Quiet, Thaw, all is well,” she ordered, but the pup didn’t listen.

The pup was not only disobeying Snow, he had stopped digging to look up at Tarass, then to the spot on the ground.

“I believe Thaw is angry at whatever it was you tripped over. I’ll assure him all is well. You stay right here. Don’t move.”

“He can be stubborn at times,” Snow said, dusting the snow off herself.

“I wonder where he gets that from?” Tarass said with a chuckle that quickly faded when he spotted what Thaw had revealed… an arm.

“What’s wrong?” Snow demanded. “Your laughter ended suddenly. Something is wrong.”

She might be blind but Tarass had learned quickly that she was astute to her surroundings. He didn’t for once think to keep it from her, not after the ordeal she’d been through.

He returned to her side and rested his hand on her arm. “It’s a dead body.”

Shock turned her silent. Though only briefly. “Who?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to remove the snow to reveal anymore of him and leave him vulnerable to the animals until I can get some men out here to dig him out.”

She nodded. “That would be wise.”