Clare noticed darkness ebbing away outside. She moved to the mouth of the tent and unzipped the nylon entry. Streaks of light had already crawled through the sky. She grabbed Brandon's arm and took a look at his watch. "We've been talking for hours."

"Hours?" he squinted at his wrist.

"You're an easy person to talk to, once the initial awkwardness passes; you actually listen. You ask more questions than answer." For the first time since they had started talking, she was able to see his face.

"Same goes for you," he leaned forward and rested his arms atop his folded knees. "What now?"

"I think it's time we wake them. We should be packed and ready when the sun comes up," she tied her hair up in a ponytail. "Don't tell me you're still thinking about staying put?" she asked tenderly. "We're going to need you. You seem to be the brains of this outfit."

She stretched a hand to him, which he took. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath as he exhaled. "Let's just wait to see what Jack thinks," he said turning to search out Jack's sleeping form. He absent-mindedly patted her hand once and let go.

Clare watched him lift the flap. "How are we going to travel with all those bags?"

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

"But Jack could decide to join us? We need to think about it at least."

Brandon went back to peering at the snow world outside. "We'll think about that when we come to it."

"Well then, how about we wake up the two sleeping beasts?" She crawled over to the two still sleeping.

"Wake up, wake UP!" she called. Matt just flinched and Jack pushed her arm away. Annoyed, she flicked Matt's nose with her finger since he was the closest.

He woke up frightened. "What the hell?"

"Told you I'd wake you up," Clare turned to Jack and poked at his abdomen with a firm finger. "Jack, wake up now," but Jack continued to ignore her. "Fine, you leave me no choice. If you don't wake up in ten seconds I will stuff a sock up your nose."

"Ha-ha, funny, wicked witch of the west, I'd like to see you try that," from inside the bag.

She shrugged, "Okay, have it your way. It's a trick my nanny taught me, and she used to say that it can probably tranquilize an elephant." Jack stayed put, so Clare grabbed Matt's scarf.

Matt tried to help her out, "She's got something about people's noses, mine is still buzzing from that flick," He kept his voice very calm and strong, "and well yours is going to be stinking by the time she's done."

Jack stayed tucked in. Clare leaned forward, stuffing the scarf into Jack's face. Jack swung up immediately, thrashing his arms out. "God damn you, woman," he angrily huffed.

Matt laughed, "She is ruthless. I did warn you!"

"It's a scarf," she said holding it out towards him, "or do you actually think they make socks this long? One's got to be very tall for that, don't you think?"

"You're not as innocent as you look," Jack accused.

"So, sue me," she laughed.

"Come on, break it up," Brandon said calmly "however entertaining this might be, we've got other things to tackle besides Jack."

"So you decided to join us then?" Clare almost pounced on him, excited.

He nodded. "I think I might truly miss this circus otherwise."

"Yeah, you just might." Clare bit down on her lower lip, her heart suddenly skipping a beat.

Clare smiled. "Brandon's coming along for the walk."

Matt moved to the mouth of the tent, undid the netted flap and stepped out. He zipped up his jacket and wrapped his scarf around his neck. Clare followed him out, then Brandon. The three turned around to see Jack lie back down in his bag again. They called his name, and he jumped up at once and came out, dragging his sack behind him like a baby dragging a blanket.

"I'll go see how much stuff we've got to carry," Brandon walked away.

"I'll go with him" Clare volunteered. She watched him stare down at the bags. "Got any ideas as to how we're going to take all this with us?" He just shook his head.

She turned to see Matt dragging Jack, who'd slipped back into his sack. "IDEA," she exclaimed clasping her hands to his chest.

"What?"

Clare pointed at Matt. "See how he's pulling Jack, we can do that can't we, with the extra bag and tent?" She turned back to Brandon, holding him by both hands and shook him a little. "Yeah, that's how we do it."

Excited, they quickly repacked everything in the five backpacks. Each donned one pack each and hung their sleeping bags by the bag's straps. The task of carrying the tent and the extra bag was going to be divided among the boys through their expedition. Brandon looked at his watch; it was nearly eight o'clock in the morning. The sky was still heavily draped in the storm clouds, however, the blizzard had passed and all was quiet that morning.

"So we're not going to make a pact or something?" Jack asked. "You know, like, to be patient and not lose our temper when the going gets tough, etcetera." He threw out his hand, palm down.

"The only pact I want to make is the one of getting home safe in one piece," Matt claimed. He took the responsibility of carrying the tent for the first hour.

"Amen to that, brother," Jack added, slapping Matt's shoulder.

Matt excitedly walked ahead of the rest. "Well, let's not waste any more time then, you good for nothing scallywags!"

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," they echoed in unison.

* * *

Boyd ran into Simon's office, panting. "Pick up your phone. You'd want to take this."

Simon looked up. "Put it through."

Boyd nodded and ran back out. A moment later, Simon heard a familiar voice through the receiver.

"Officer Stacey, its Larry from the Lodge." There was a pause. "We only just heard about all road closures and were wondering if we could still come down to town. The weather up here is getting worse and we don't think it'd be very safe for our staff to stay. Our supplies haven't reached us yet. Otherwise, we could've just stayed put. What do you say? Shall we plough our way down?"

Simon thought for a bit. "All right, evacuate all your staff. Do you have appropriate escape vehicles?"

"Yes, we've got two snow ploughs, can squeeze four each, and we have seven staff. I think we can manage it."

"All right. Listen up" Simon said. "I got a favour to ask."

"What is it?"

"The bus full of tourist that's been missing. We have confirmed through global positioning that it is still on the mountain, and we have a vague location. We've tried their radio and no answers. So we're thinking perhaps they've pulled over by the side of the road due to the heavy snowfall. We just want you to confirm whether such is the case. We're trying not to alarm anybody down here as yet."

"Okay, can do. We'll radio in if we happen to find anything."

"Oh, Larry, watch out for that nasty stretch of road, and good luck." With that Simon hung up.

* * *

As they started down the road it began to snow heavily but they were not deterred. They were in fact filled with newborn faith that the road they were walking on would simply deliver them to safety. Their spirits were high with the hope of getting back home soon. So off they went, marching down the road; glad to be on the move. Gradually the blanket of snow grew higher, from under their feet, to their ankles, and up to their shins in just a few hours.

They walked non-stop for hours until Jack started complaining about his breathing. He needed rest every now and again. "Can't we stop?" he questioned again, "Just for a little while, please." But they wouldn't listen to him since he had already made them stop just an hour ago.

Clare and Matt led the way while Brandon hung a few paces back to keep Jack company. "You got an attack or you're just tired?" he asked.

"Asthma. Makes the whole breathing thing slightly difficult you know..." Jack said.

Above them, there was no sign of the sun; the world was stuck in perpetual twilight it seemed. They had been walking for ages, though the world lay still under their feet, and they seemed to be getting nowhere. The snow plains had no end at all.

"Will the snow ever stop falling?" Clare gasped. "I feel like a meat patty in a burger."

"Please don't talk about food, especially burgers," Jack begged. "I'm hungry as it is."

"Oh NO," Clare grumbled, "not now, I know exactly where you're heading with this. We've already stopped one too many times. We'll keep on walking until someone else complains."

"Yeah," Brandon added. "You heard the lady, we are in deep shit here, Jack. We've got to get out of this cold. As soon as you get home, you can sit on the couch twenty-four/seven. It's already taken us four days and we need to save as much food as we can." With that, the three continued trudging through the snow.

Midday passed into afternoon and finally, they all agreed to stop after a slight tantrum from Jack. Jack threw down his pack and wouldn't budge.

"Come on, Jack," Clare was tired and frustrated, "You're making it more difficult than it has to be, for everyone."

"No," he said. "I'm not moving until I have had something to eat. You guys have been dragging me around like a dog for ages." He sat down stubbornly. "We don't even know which direction we came from or where we're going. I'm tired, and don't you pretend you're not tired either," he said, looking up at Clare sympathetically. "We've been walking for bloody three, four hours, and few hours of rest won't kill you!"

"Actually I'm tired too," Brandon said, joining Jack on the snow, "and hungry."

Matt sat down too. Clare couldn't resist the idea of some rest and food. As they ate and talked, the weather grew bleaker. Darkness swept the land suddenly and they all looked about bewildered.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack mumbled, cursing at the sky.

"We may have left a bit too early," Brandon said. "We should make camp and call it a day. We do not want to get caught unsheltered in this weather." No one rebutted his decision, and much as they would hate to admit, they were all tired, mentally and physically.

* * *

In the late afternoon, as Simon walked back into his office with a big cup of coffee, the radio was crackling. "Officer Stacey. This is Larry, come in."

Simon immediately picked up the radio. "This is Simon. What have you found, Larry?"

"A...acc...dent". There was heavy static.

"Repeat, Larry, didn't catch that."

"An accident" Larry's voice came out much clearer this time. "It's the bus, the Wild Thing. It's met with an accident, we found the skid marks when we ploughed through the snow. It's fallen off the side of the road. We're just going down to assess the situation."

"How bad is she looking?" Simon radioed back.

"Pretty bad, officer! Battered. I'd say the nose took the brunt of the impact from the look of it."

"Damn." Simon whispered to himself. "Damn, damn, damn... Okay Larry, you get down there and tell me how grim it's looking. See if there are any survivors."

"Sure thing."

Half an hour later Simon got the call he'd been waiting for. "Larry. What have you got for me?"

"Officer, it's not good at all." Larry replied. "A few of my boys assessed the interior of the bus, and we were able to count twenty one bodies in total." A slight pause. "They are all dead."

"This is going to create a flurry Larry...what of the driver? Can you tell me how much he suffered? I have to deliver the news to his already distraught wife."

There was a moment's pause. "Larry?"

"He...caught by the brunt of the impact," Larry's voice weakened, "I think his name was Paul Reeves. He worked for Charter King, Sam."

"Are you sure it's Paul?" Simon asked, disheartened.

"Quite sure, he wasn't a frequent visitor, but his jacket's got his name on it, Reeves. What do you want us to do?"

Simon dropped like lead on his chair. "I'm going to have to send in an investigative team as soon as the weather clears up...in the morning, I'm told..." Simon pulled nervously at his hair. "Take your staff back to the lodge until the morning, we'll fetch you while we're at it."

Simon immediately dialled his sister's number. His palms were getting clammy.

"Hello."

"It's Simon."

"Oh, thank God." Glenda said. "Have you got any news?"

"Yes, and it's not good," he replied. "Not good at all!"

"Paul is safe, isn't he?" she asked warily.

"Glenda, I don't know how to say it, but I just got the news few minutes ago. Paul drove the bus over the edge. No one survived."

"What do you mean, he drove it over?"

"Well, how exactly it happened hasn't been investigated yet. I'm taking a team up the mountain tomorrow morning. I'll see if I can find out anything else for you but I doubt it'll help his wife."

"Nothing will," Glenda replied.

"By the way, is Sam back in town?" he asked.

"No, he's getting back tomorrow evening. I'll let him know you want to talk to him."

"Yeah, well, now we have more than a missing bus driver to worry about," Simon said with a hint of regret in his tone. "I don't know how I'm going to break this news to the town." He spun a pen on his desk and swallowed hard. "Well love, I better go, good luck with breaking the news."

"Thanks for everything you've been able to do so far."

"All part of the job," Simon weakly smiled. "Well I'll probably drop by your place tomorrow morning before I go up the mountain and convey my condolences to Mrs. Reeves."

"That'd be good."

"She's still with you, isn't she?"

"Yeah, poor thing" Glenda whispered wearily. "Well, I'll let you go. Love you."

"Love you too."

Delivering the devastating news to Helen was the hardest thing Glenda had ever done, and witnessing her reaction was even more difficult and emotionally draining than she had fathomed. The feeling of Helen's overwhelming lose seemed to wash over her in immense waves. What made the day worse was supporting Helen while she let her two children know that their Daddy has driven all the way to heaven to see God and to tell him all about his two little bundles of joy.

Helen's courage was marvellous as she held her kids in her warm motherly embrace. It wasn't until she put the kids to bed that she let her guard down and simply collapsed in a heap on the floor, unable to gather herself again until it was time for her babies to wake up.