Part 165 (2/2)

asleep by now, and she didn't want her to worry unneces-

sarily. Besides, she would take her cell phone, just in case.

Then remembering Leah's warnings about preparedness, she

1.bundled up and even thought to grab a spare blanket for her

car, just to be safe. She tossed a few cookies in a plastic bag,

then she and Lizzie took off into the snowy night.

She drove slowly and with caution, marveling at the won-

drous beauty of the snowy night all around her. It was a dra-

matic scene of varying shades of blues and purple and black.

The main road had been freshly plowed and seemed to pre-

sent no hazards, but when she turned onto Jed's road the

plowing ceased. Still, it seemed okay; her tires had adequate

traction, and even as the road began to climb and curve, her

front-wheel-drive seemed to be holding to the road just fine

and she didn't feel it was unsafe to continue. Now she could

see the faint tracks of tires ahead of her, filled in with several

inches of snow, and she suspected they belonged to the

pickup. She imagined Leah snug in bed right now, and felt

silly for making such an effort to check up on her. She knew

she'd have to slink away with her tail between her legs for

being so paranoid. Maybe she could simply spy the pickup

in the drive, then sneak quietly back home. But then again

what if something was wrong inside the house? No, she

decided, she would not rest tonight until she saw Leah face

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