She had left the White Mountains ski lodge of a school friend a few hours earlier, when the snow had been light and flaky. Now, however, it was beginning to look like a blizzard, and she was afraid she had been foolish to insist upon leaving. She had been traveling the side roads; she decided she had better try to get over to 91 instead. Half an hour later she knew she wouldn’t make it. She couldn’t see a foot in front of her and there had been no other cars on the road. “I’m the only one idiotic enough to come out in a blizzard,” she muttered as she hunched over the wheel of her old Volkswagen and tried to keep on the road. Two minutes later she slid into a ditch and the car stalled. She could not get it started again. Susan could feel her stomach clench with fear. She tried the car one more time and got no response. “Well,” she said aloud, trying to be calm, “the choice is to sit here and freeze to death or to try and find help.” She did not want to get out of her car but chill was already beginning to set in and she knew she couldn’t stay.
