Gingham Mountain by Mary Connealy Page B

squirmed until she let go. He launched himself at his brothers. His high-pitched screams were deafening, so his brothers howled all the louder and proceeded to grab Matt and toss him in the air between each other. It was the baby’s favorite game.
    Grace covered her eyes.
    “What’s the matter, honey?” Daniel leaned down, resting one hand on the back of her rocker while he pressed his forehead to hers.
    She loved it when he touched her. She loved the way he smelled. On the rare occasion when she could get a sweet word out of the big lummox, she almost melted into a puddle at his feet. She breathed him in.
    Luke fell over the kitchen table and broke one of the legs off.
    Daniel yelled, “ You boys go outside and fight! ”
    Grace, her ears ringing, looked up at her grinning husband as the boys stormed through the outside door. She could tell that he was already planning to repair the table. He was good at it, thanks to all the practice.
    Thanks to the moment of silence, Grace could concentrate, and she realized what Daniel had said. “The gap’s snowed shut?” And oddly, her throat seemed to swell shut at the news. “We’re trapped here until spring again?”
    “Yep, but it held off a long time this year. We got in to Mosqueros for Christmas. But I’m tired of the run to town for school. Glad to be shut of it for the year. And it don’t matter none. We have supplies forthe winter. I stocked up good and early. Plus, I married me our own private teacher.” Daniel grinned at her then took a step away toward the table.
    Grace caught his arm, choking on the idea of being trapped for months. “You’re sure it’s all the way snowed shut. Have you ever tried to shovel a path through? Just wide enough to walk out?”
    “Naw, it’s packed in tight, fifty feet deep. No gettin’ out. I s’pose we could get an early thaw, but that don’t usually happen. You know how slow that gap is to melt. Spring will have been here for a long time before we can get out.”
    Grace’s finger sank deep into Daniel’s sleeve. “Daniel, I think we’re going to have to get out of here once or twice this winter. You got a lot done on that high pass, didn’t you? We can get out of here once in a while, can’t we?”
    “We could, but why should we?”
    Something hit the front door so hard one of the hinges snapped. Grace saw Ike and Luke through the splintered wood before they fell to the ground.
    “Because I get a little. . .oh”—her fingers tore little holes in the fabric—“restless, I guess, not seeing another woman all winter. If we could just go to the McClellens every month or so. . .”
    Daniel went over and lifted the door back into place.
    “I’d go alone,” she offered. “I could just jump on a horse and ride up to the pass. I’d let the horse go and he’d come right home. Then I’d walk to Adam and Tillie’s. It can’t be more than five miles. I’d be fine on my own.”
    “You can’t get over that pass alone.”
    “Sure I can.” Grace felt her throat shutting tight, not unlike the gap. “Scaling that last cliff isn’t so hard.”
    “What do you mean it isn’t so hard?” Daniel set what was left of the table upright using the broken-off leg to prop it then came back to her side. “Even after all the work we done, we have to hang on by ourfingernails. John fell almost a hundred feet when he went over the edge last summer.”
    Grace decided the sleeve hadn’t gotten his attention nearly enough. She grabbed Daniel’s skin beneath the cloth, picturing her hand on his neck. That wasn’t like her. “But he rolled most of the way. It’s not like it’s a dead drop. He had hardly a scratch. And besides, he was wrestling with Abe. I wouldn’t be reckless like the boys are.”
    Normally the winters didn’t bother her all that much. But for some reason, right now, it was driving her to panic. Her fingers sank into a hunk of Daniel’s skin. And speaking of claws. . . “I would just claw my way