She turned to look out the window and the woods stared back at her, deep and silent, watching, waiting. For what, she wasn’t quite sure.

Half an hour later, they crossed the border back into Canada and turned onto the snow-covered track that led to their new home. There was a fine dusting of new snow on top of the old crust, but nothing more. The sky had almost completely cleared, the power of the storm gone as quickly as it had arrived. David felt as if they had been offered a reprieve, and issued a warning. Don’t mess with me, Mother Nature said. You’re free to go, but watch your step. He decided that was fine with him. If Mother Nature was a control freak, he was humble enough to respect that.

Jessie’s problems made him feel like turning around and heading back to New York to find help. To hell with the job. But he knew that such a rash decision would be both professional and personal suicide. Without Hydro Development he was a dead man, any way you looked at it. So he continued on, while that illogical, emotional side boiled within him, and thought perhaps that this would be the last one, that such a crazy series of outbursts would turn themselves off suddenly like a light switch. If they didn’t…

He preferred not to think about that.

Perhaps the light dusting of snow had softened the ruts a little, because the driveway seemed easier to manage. They turned the last corner, and the house came into view. The urgency of Jessie’s situation had kept his mind off the place for a while, but now it all came rushing back to him, filling his mind with the bloodred light of the sun, the glare off the windows making the entire place seem ablaze…

The house stood empty.

It stood alone and small against the vast forest, a house and nothing more. And as he glanced back at Helen, he saw only hope and pleasure in her eyes, and the tiny hint of a smile twisting the corners of her mouth.

“It’s beautiful,” she said from the backseat. She had Jessie cuddled against her breast. “I love it.”

They pulled up to the porch and he cut the engine. The silence seemed overwhelming.

“Let me show you around,” he said.

They climbed out and he went to the back to unload the U-Haul. Jessie shuffled up beside him as he pulled out two of their smaller suitcases and set them on the ground. She grabbed one of the handles and tried to lift it, then frowned. “Here, princess,” he said, smiling. “Carry your pack.” He found the little red backpack where it was hiding near the back of the trailer, and helped her arms through its straps. She shifted Johnny Bear from one hand to the other as he did it, refusing to release him for one second.