More than an Elf

Excerpt

Chapter One

Jessica winced and pulled the icicle from her bodice. Samantha's attempt to lighten the mood in the dismal, dark cabin should have at least irritated her, but Jessica couldn't even find the energy to scowl. With the freezing temperatures surrounding her, and the other girls just as cold, the ice didn't make much difference to the morbid atmosphere.

"Would you grow up, Samantha?" Jessica sighed and tossed the ice aside.

"Why the heck would I want to do that?" Samantha adjusted her thick skirts and wrapped her arms deeper into the dark green cotton. Happy sprigs of cream flowers dotted the full skirt, but something made of wool would have been more practical.

The girls snickered, but despite the light moment, their time was dwindling. The four had left the comfort of their southern upbringings to try their luck out West. After Lee surrendered at Appomattox and the war finally ebbed, there'd been nothing left for any of them. All daughters of families killed in the war and from illness, the group had offered a kinship Jessica needed. They'd started in Georgia and worked their way to the Mississippi River. If they'd stayed south, they probably would have been fine. Unfortunately, shortly after leaving Georgia, Samantha had fallen for a man from Minneapolis, and when the slick-talker offered to pay their way up the Mississippi River, they'd followed.

He'd hit the road in St. Louis, and after the girls had done a stint at a local whiskey house, they headed west once more. They'd nearly made it to Colorado by the time the snow hit. Jessica had thought they'd be able to find lodging of some kind until spring. The four of them had no problem with singing and dancing for their dinner. Jessica had set aside any shyness the month after her father and mother passed, leaving her alone with money and freedom for the first time in her life.

She'd gone to Atlanta, found a lovely young soldier, and had her way with him. Being a little wild had been a stretch beyond her quiet upbringing, but no one had been hurt. She might have stretched her mama's rules, but she'd made her choices wisely, never indulging with a man who wasn't free to be plucked. If she'd played it safe, she'd be back in Georgia, probably married to the neighbor who'd offered to take her in after her parents died.

Instead, she was freezing her ass off in a hunting cabin they'd stumbled upon after Eric, their guide, took off. Samantha's wiles had gotten them into trouble again. The girl had a way of roping in a man and pissing him right off.

An unexpected warm front at first had them all celebrating. They'd had every intention of leaving the tiny cabin the moment the rains stopped, but then the weather turned frigid. The rain became ice, locking them inside the cabin. After several days stuck inside, Jessica broke open a window when the door refused to budge. Once outside, she hadn't gotten far. It was simply too icy. Having no other choice but to wait for Eric to return, they'd stayed put, going through their rations sparingly and burning all the kindling they could find. At first, they'd been sure they would be fine. But when he hadn't returned after a week, they'd begun planning how to get to the nearest town, nearly ten miles south.

Then the blizzard hit. For the past thirteen days, it had snowed nonstop. They were out of food, out of wood, and had been sucking on snow from the window for liquid. Their dresses hung on them, and Jessica had never felt so weak.

They were going to die.

They huddled together for warmth, though their emaciated bodies had little warmth to share. Samantha settled into the pile, her playfulness ebbing as her strength dwindled. They were all quiet for some time. Jessica wasn't sure for how long. Light slumber fell over her in waves, making any calculation of the passage of time impossible. When she awoke the final time, Jessica felt that Rita had stopped moving. She was the least hardy of all of them, though she'd never been weak until they stopped eating. Rita hadn't been Jessica's favorite person—too jaded. Still, Jessica would have never wished ill for her.

She took a deep breath, the cold overshadowing any scents that might have lingered from so long without proper baths. Who would have thought she'd be here, so far from home and so close to death? Her mother had warned about what happened to 'those' kinds of girls, and even as Jessica had become that girl, she'd never had any regrets. She still didn't.

Samantha, the joker of the bunch, started crying quietly. She must have noticed Rita as well. Ellen coughed twice but then stopped; the quiet from the eldest of the bunch was a telling sign. If she wasn't already dead, she would be soon. They all would be.

"I don't want to die," Samantha whimpered.

Jessica knew the feeling, but she also recognized the deep, panging hunger inside her as something more than she could tolerate any longer. No food, no water, all cold. No matter what Samantha wanted, they were out of options.

"Lay down, Samantha," Jessica mumble as her lips stuck together. "Just close your eyes and go to sleep."

* * * * *

He freaking hated the cold. Arden Woods used the spikes of his cleats to keep his balance on the ice. He didn't know what Noni Sophie was thinking, sending him into this crap. Arden knew the girl was important, a mate for one of the neighbor boys, and it suited Arden to have those boys taken, as they'd become fast friends with his mate, Blake. The sooner they were paired off with nice women and busy tending their own families rather than flirting up his female, the better.

The door of the small cabin refused to open, and Arden had a bad feeling as he looked around the dwelling. If anyone was in there, he didn't know how he or she would have survived long. The ice totally encased the structure, and snowdrifts formed a second barrier. The faint, telltale scent of smoke drifted in the air, but not nearly strong enough to indicate a recent fire. Nothing showed any sign of life. Even the animals seemed to have tucked themselves away, out of the storm.

He finally found a window. Relief filled him when he saw it was open. Whoever occupied the cabin must have escaped the worst of the storm. He didn't mind hunkering down for a while before searching her out. She'd probably traveled to the nearest town. He'd find it and find her and they'd get on their way back to the Elflands. The alternative of finding her dead inside was one Arden didn’t want to entertain.

He forced his way through the snow and hefted himself through the window. Arden tumbled but jumped to his feet. Shadows filled the cabin with no glow whatsoever from the hearth. He turned and froze. Four bodies lay on the hard-packed dirt floor. He was too late. Whomever he'd come to fetch had succumbed to the cold. No foodstuffs lay out. In fact, there was nothing much in the room besides the women. Dead women.

One of them moaned.

Arden halted a second time and took a long moment to watch the bodies. Where he'd missed it on his first look, he finally saw signs of life with the second inspection. He ran to the group and winced when he lifted the first woman. Her lips were completely blue, and she wasn't breathing. He gently laid her aside and checked the next woman. If any lived, he'd take them with him. The next two were as blue as the first, but the redhead moaned when he lifted her. Her eyes opened for a brief second, pain and confusion in their blue depths.

"It's all right, little lady. I'll have you out of here and warm again before you know it." He set her down and pulled his heat blanket from his pack. He almost hadn't brought it, figuring Noni Sophie's easy assignment wouldn't require survival gear. Arden wrapped the woman in the metallic fabric and considered his options. The only way out was through the window. He lifted her and headed for the makeshift exit. He'd get her to the Elflands and into the hands of the nonis. They'd take things from there.''