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couldn’t see the flashlight Clay had swung around earlier.
    â€œThere are no houses out where you picked her up,” the minister said. “I meant the land. There are some gullies that might provide shelter for a man. And a few clusters oftrees. That’s where he’d head if he was in trouble or just lost his way.”
    â€œI could still go with you.” Rene sounded tired and not as insistent as she had a minute earlier.
    â€œI know Mandy could use a friend with her,” Clay said softly. “I’ll be fine with this Conrad fellow.”
    â€œAnd Conrad does know the area.” Rene gave a small frown.
    â€œOne of the men who prayed for you earlier, Elmer, is getting ready to go, too,” the minister said. “That’s if there’s room in the truck. He wouldn’t be able to do much walking in the snow because he has bad knees, but he could be your base person. You’ll want someone in the truck to tend the ropes. The other man, Charlie, wanted to go, too, but we decided he should stay here since he’s our vet.”
    â€œWhy would—” Clay started and then he understood.
    â€œHe’s the closest thing we have to a doctor,” the minister finished. “In case the woman goes into labor.”
    â€œThen it’s good he’s staying back.” Clay nodded. He wondered if those men were going to insist on praying over him again. If they were, he hoped they waited for him to drink some coffee first. Rene had just turned into the kitchen and he suspected she was going to fix him a cup.
    Rene stood at the counter by the sink and frowned at the coffeemaker. The thing wasn’t going as fast as it should. Not if she expected to have the thermos filled with hot beverage by the time Clay was ready to leave again. She checked all of the plugs and it should have been working. Maybe if she looked away for a minute, the thing would start to drip.
    She was trying to be reasonable. She didn’t like being left behind on the final search trip. She had to admit thatit made sense to take people who were more familiar with the area, but she worried that something would go wrong. All of the talk about ropes reminded her that Clay would be out in the night in a blizzard with nothing to show him the way back to the truck except for a twisted line of hemp.
    What if the old man, Elmer, fell asleep? Or the younger man, Conrad, didn’t really know where things were in all of that darkness? Was there a chance Clay could be lost himself?
    She heard the coffeemaker signal that the pot was full. She was glad she could at least do this much for him.

Chapter Six
    T he blizzard had almost completely died down and Rene could see thin streams of light coming through the windows in the pastor’s study. Time had slowed down until every second had an impact. She had just finished feeding Mandy some soup and the young woman was calm for the moment.
    â€œIs that them?” Mandy asked as she looked up from the sofa.
    She had asked the same question every time there was a door opened or shut in the past hour. But Rene didn’t mind.
    â€œLet me go check.”
    â€œWait!” Mandy said before Rene could stand. “How does my hair look? I don’t want Davy to see me with funny hair.”
    â€œIf he knows what’s good for him, he’ll be glad to see you no matter how your hair looks,” Rene said a little fiercely. The more the young woman talked the less Rene was sure that this Davy was good enough for her.
    Mandy’s voice got quiet. “Do you think he is really going to marry me? My mother used to say he was just taking me for granted.”
    Rene patted the young woman’s hand. What could she say? “If he really is taking you for granted, you’re better off without him.”
    When she met this young man, Rene intended to take him aside and talk to him. He had some explaining to do.
    â€œI wish he’d be a little