A winter story, part thirteen

by: Olivia Dale

The screeching of sled runners sliced through the quietness of the King family barnyard. Janet tugged mightily on the reins and pulled the horse to a jarring halt. She picked up a woolen checkered blanket, which she had found in the back of the sleigh, and wrapped it around a shivering Great Aunt Eliza. "Alec! Hetty!" she cried, "Come here quick! I've found Eliza!"
Just then, Clive Pettibone showed up, who had made his way from town to check on the lambs,
"What's all the commotion? Is something wrong?" he asked, but then he quickly realized that there was something serious going on. He rushed over to the sleigh and over to Eliza's side.
"Oh Clive, thank goodness you're here. She's fallen through the ice and she keeps on mumbling things and I can't understand a word, it's so unclear...I don't know if she's in shock..." Janet sobbed and sniffed with fright.
Clive didn't hesitate a moment. "Alec! Hetty! Come here!" he called in a loud, booming voice as he scooped the feeble woman into his arms. Alec, followed by Felicity, toddler Daniel, and Hetty, came running towards them.
Alec helped lift Aunt Eliza and together he and Clive carefully carried her into the house. Everybody followed, Felicity closing the farmhouse door behind them, and prayed with all her heart that Aunt Eliza wouldn't die in the midst of them.

                                                                      ~*~

In the meantime, Felix and Sara arrived in the barnyard, clumsily carrying a wooden board with light bulbs screwed onto it, all attached with wire strings mingled onto a bicycle and a big, black box.
"Ouch." Sara groaned as a loose string whipped into her face, "Felix, don't go so fast, I can't keep up." she exclaimed.
Felix sighed but kept his steady pace. "We've got to save the lambs, Sara. We're almost there. Just two more steps."  He told her as they made their way into the lambing pen. Carefully, Sara placed the board with light bulbs onto the soft straw as Felix set up the bicycle and the box. Together they fumbled around with the strings.
Felix picked up the charred black string from the latter finger burning incident, and twisted it onto the black box. Phew, no invisible hand chucked him across the floor this time, he mused.
Well, the contraption looked ready to roll.
Fingers crossed, Sara hopped onto the bicycle and started to peddle. She heard a little buzz and saw a faint glow glimmer from all of the light bulbs.
Felix stared in awe. "Peddle faster." he instructed.
So she did, and the faint glow gleamed beautifully bright, and oh! the warmth that came from it! Immediately all of the lambs wobbled towards the light, bleating happily.
Sara and Felix laughed with delight.
"C'mon Sara! We've got to tell the rest of them!" Felix shouted with glee. Sara stopped peddling and slid off of the bike, then she and Felix ran back into the cold, with happy news to share with the family. Yet little did they know about their Great Aunt Eliza...