CHAPTER 6

          Nikki had no intention of dropping her line of questioning.  One look at the dark, threatening clouds pressing in from the North convinced her to postpone it though. 

          “Hannah,” she said with quiet urgency.  “Munchkin, we need to get going.”

          “No Mommy,” Hannah pleaded.  “I don’t want to go.  I want to play with the bunny.  She likes me.”

          “Look at the sky, Honey,” Nikki reasoned.  “We need to get back to our room before the storm comes.  The bunny needs to get back to her home too.”

          Hannah offered the hare one more hug.  “Okay,” she said reluctantly.  “Can we come back after the storm?”

          “We’ll do this again someday, Hannah,” Jess told her.  “I promise.”

          Hannah looked to her mother for approval.  “Can we Mommy?”

          Nikki stared at Jess for a moment before answering.  “We’ll try.”

          All the while they made their way down the hillside, Nikki thought about what Jess had told her.  Aside from the fact he was probably certifiable, she weighed the possibilities. 

          Everyone had assumed her father had an undiagnosed heart condition.  He’d complained of a headache and numbness before he collapsed.  It all happened so fast.  Nikki’s father had passed away before the rescue personnel arrived on the scene.  By the time Nikki made it home, her mother was in shock.  Nikki was too.  She’d wanted answers.  It didn’t matter if it wouldn’t bring her dad back.  She needed to know. 

          Jess was right on one account.  Nikki knew she felt responsible for not being there, not discovering the problem before it was too late.  She’d learned so much, but her knowledge had all been useless to her when it really mattered.  Nikki thought of Hannah, content once again on Jess’ shoulders.  Her knowledge was useless to Hannah too.

          “Nikki, take my hand,” Jess offered.  “There’s a faster way down, but it’s steep.”

          One glance at the approaching tempest convinced her not to argue.  The sky to the north and west was now a deep ominous blue.

          Attempting to alleviate her concern, Nikki commented, “On the weather channel this morning, the meteorologists said the storms wouldn’t come this far south.”

          Jess actually stopped in his downward trek to stare first at the sky, then meaningfully at her.  “Trust me on this one if nothing else, all right?”

          “Yeah, sure,” Nikki conceded as the first flakes started to fall, “no problem.”

          They were nearly down to the bottom of the steep slope when they came across a couple skiers stopped next to a jutting rock.  One was sitting in the snow with her skis set aside.  

          Jess slowed and turned toward them. 

          “Need any help?” Nikki called as she followed. 

          The girl standing looked very worried.  Her long brown hair, turning to icy tendrils, clanked against her jacket as she motioned.  “My friend Ashley slid into this rock and hurt her leg.  We were trying to hurry to beat the storm.”  Neither girl appeared to be over fifteen.

          Ashley looked pale.  Jess passed Hanna to her mother and knelt down to examine the leg.  Even from Nikki’s position, it didn’t look good.  Jess helped Ashley gently lift her ski pants up to reveal an unnatural angle to her shin bone.  Nikki could tell the girl’s tibia was likely broken. 

          For the past several minutes, snow had been falling with increasing intensity.  The wind was picking up now and they were still about a half mile from the road.  If they didn’t get help soon, it was going to be a difficult hike.  Nikki tried her cell with no luck.

          “We already tried calling our parents,” Ashley’s friend said, “our phones only seem to work in town, closer to the interstate.”

          “We’ve noticed the same problem,” Nikki mentioned.  She watched as Jess ran his hands over Ashley’s leg. 

          “It hurts,” Ashley moaned.  She dropped her chin, letting a curtain of snowy blond curls hide her tears.  “It really hurts.” 

          “It’ll be okay, Ashley,” Jess assured her.  He held her gaze, smiling.  “Believe me?”

          She nodded solemnly.

          “I’m going to straighten your leg a bit so you can walk,” he told her.  “It might feel strange, but it won’t hurt.”

          “Okay.”  She sounded more confident than she looked.  Nikki knelt next to her in the snow, reaching out with her free hand.  Ashley grasped it and held tight.  Her friend grabbed onto her other hand.

          Jess grinned at their stoicism.  “I’m straightening it girls, not cutting it off.”  He eased the leg out, pressing gently against the sides. 

          Nikki watched, wondering if he was actually doing anything or simply trying to make the girls feel better.  She was just thinking a splint might be more practical and not as painful as manipulation when she saw the angled bone straighten before her unbelieving eyes.  Nikki glanced at Ashley, but she didn’t even seem to notice.  Then Nikki’s eyes snapped up to Jess.  He wasn’t looking at the leg or Ashley.  He was looking at her.

          “We’d better get going,” he said quietly.  “Worse storms are coming.  Claire, if we help Ashley, can you carry her skis?” Jess asked the other girl. 

          “Sure,” she said running over to get them.  Then, stopping in mid- stride, she turned back.  “How’d you know my name?”

          Jess smiled at her.  “Lucky guess?”  He took hold of Ashley’s hand and helped her up. 

          Ashley tentatively put a little pressure on her injured leg.  “It feels a lot better,” she said in surprise.

          “Take it easy on it for a few days,” warned Jess, offering again to carry Hannah.

          A few days? Nikki wondered as she followed Jess and the girls out to the road.  She wasn’t a medical doctor, but she knew bones didn’t just fix themselves.  Even if the birds were a trick, and the elk, and the hare, how could he fake this?  But he’d chosen the path home.  It stands to reason the girls might have been paid to be here just at the right time.  They seemed legitimately frightened, but with the storm approaching…

          Jess fell back a step to join Nikki.  “Ever the skeptic,” he commented, tucking Hannah, sound asleep now, under the front of his jacket.        

          “Stop reading my mind,” Nikki demanded.  Her grin took the bite out of her words.

          “I didn’t need to read your mind,” countered Jess.  “I only had to read your expression.”

          “So explain how you set and fused a broken tibia painlessly, without a splint, and with barely a touch,” she challenged.  “That girl’s not even limping.”

          “Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked.”

          Nikki glanced over at Jess as they made their way through the deepening snow.  “Yeah, right.”

          “Trust, Nikki.”

          “I can’t.”

          “We’ll see.”

          With thick flakes of snow clumping on her lashes, Nikki couldn’t see much of anything right now, but she was pretty sure Jess was smiling.

*   *   *

          “Oh, thank goodness you’re back,” exclaimed Helen.  She jumped up to greet the snowy trio as they entered the lobby.  “Jack and I have been so worried since the snow started.  We had no idea where you’d gone or how to find you.  He went out a little bit ago to look for you.”

          Hannah stretched and opened her eyes a crack.  “Hi Grandma,” she mumbled.  “We saw a baby deer, and birds, and a bunny.”  Her words slurred as she snuggled back into Jess’ arms.

          “It’s been an interesting day,” admitted Nikki.  “I’ll call Jack and let him know we’re back.”

          Helen motioned to the couch and overstuffed chairs behind her.  “Come sit down by the fire,” she suggested.  “You look like you could use a little warm-up.”

          After she made the call, Nikki poured a couple cups of coffee and brought them over, handing one to Jess.  They sat together on the couch, Hannah stretching out between them. 

          “Jack must be too close to the mountain,” Nikki said with a little concern.  “I left a voice mail message telling him we’re back safe.  Did he say which way he was going?” she asked her mother.

          The lobby door opened, letting in a gust of cool air.  “I was just getting ready to start mountain climbing,” Jack spoke up from behind them, brushing inches of snow from his coat and boots.  “Then I met two teenagers and their relieved parents.”  He joined the group and took a seat by the fireplace.  “When I asked if they’d seen anyone else out on the mountain, they mentioned a couple with a child who came to their rescue after one of the girls injured her leg.  I guess they were positive the leg had been broken, but she looked fine to me.”  He gazed at Nikki, who seemed quite comfortable sitting there by Jess.  Hannah was curled up half in his lap.  “I was trying to call you again just now, apparently the same time as you were calling me.”

          Jack tried to turn away from the intimate scene they produced, but he couldn’t seem to do it.  He was the outsider looking in, and if they lost Hannah, he would likely lose all contact with Nikki.  She wasn’t his anymore.  Deep down he supposed he was glad she’d found someone as nice as Jess, although why Jess’ admitted belief in God should be more acceptable to Nikki than his own was a mystery to him.  It might have been easier if he could dislike the man, but he couldn’t.

          A few guests gathered by the front desk as a local weather report came up again on the screen there.  It drew the attention of their little group as well.

          The forecaster was a young man with blond hair, khakis, and a hunter green sweater.  He smiled as if he had good news to impart as he pointed to a map of the state entrenched with swirls of clouds and bright colors.  Nikki sure hoped he did.

          “Well, the worst is nearly over for now,” he claimed, motioning to a tiny break in the precipitation just north of interstate 70.  “A major cold front will be pressing down from the north late this evening however.  This system is building as it reaches the warmer moist air mass currently dominating central Colorado.  It will have the potential of producing blizzard conditions with high winds, icing, and snow accumulations in excess of 24 inches.  These totals could be considerably higher in or near the mountains, especially here in the Vail area.”

          The screen behind the man changed to include a highlighted boxed area.  “The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Garfield, Eagle, Summit, Clear Creek, and Park counties effective until four o’clock tomorrow morning.  So if anyone out there has travel plans, I suggest canceling if at all possible.  If you absolutely must be on the road, get to your destination as soon as you’re able.  It might be a few days before we dig out of this one.”

           The man continued talking, but Nikki wasn’t paying attention anymore.  She couldn’t get snowed in with Hannah.  In order to participate in the newest clinical trial, Hannah had to be back in Denver by Monday morning.  This was her only hope.  It was being conducted by one of the best researchers in the field.  Hannah had to be there.

          “I have to leave.”  The suddenness of Nikki’s statement caught everyone’s attention.

          “Leave?” her mother asked, confused.

          “Hannah’s only chance is Dr. Simon’s clinical trail.  If Hannah isn’t at the hospital by nine o’clock Monday morning, she won’t be included.”  An edge of panic overtook her.  “I need to leave now.”

          “You’ve got a lecture tomorrow,” Jack pointed out.  “I can take her.”

          Nikki shook her head.  “You’re supposed to speak tomorrow too.  I’d appreciate you giving my mom a ride home when you’re done though.”

          “Well, I have a grand idea,” Helen broke in.  “Since you both have lectures to give tomorrow, why don’t I just take Hannah home.  We can stay at your place, Nikki, to make sure we don’t get stranded in the canyon overnight.  It’s close to the hospital and if the snow is too bad by morning, I’ll just call for a taxi.”

          They argued a while longer before Nikki and Jack finally gave in.  They decided to let Helen take Nikki’s car.  Jack would then take Nikki home after the seminar ended tomorrow if they weren’t snowed in.  Though they wouldn’t admit it, each of them secretly thought getting stranded with the other for a few days wouldn’t be all bad so long as Hannah was taken care of.

           Through the whole process, Jess remained silent.  When Nikki got up to take Hannah back to their room, he rose also.  Jack had already offered to carry Hannah up.

          “Thank you so much for a wonderful afternoon Jess,” Nikki said before following Jack to the elevator.  “What you did for Hannah was…  It was amazing.”

          “Skip the clinical trial, Nikki,” he stated, taking her completely off guard.  “Keep Hannah here with you until the storm is over.”

          “I can’t do that,” she said, shaking her head for emphasis.  “You don’t understand how important this is.”

          “Hannah’s cancer is too advanced for the trial to help anyway,” he stated adamantly.  “You know that.” 

          “No I don’t,” she declared, angry now.  Jack must have told him about the cancer.  “I can’t take that chance.  The roads aren’t that bad yet.  Mom has time to get her back home.”

          Jess looked sad.  “They’re wrong on the timing, Nik.”

          “Well, excuse me for believing in science instead of superstition on something this important.”  She felt an unexplainable anguish in her heart.  “I would love to be able to trust.  I just can’t put my trust in something, or someone, I can’t understand.  I’m sorry.”  With that she turned away, determined not to acknowledge how difficult it was.   

*   *   *

          “I’ve got all Hannah’s toys packed in her overnight bag,” Nikki told Helen.  “Her clothes are in her suitcase.”  She looked around to see if she was missing anything.  “Oh, her coloring books are in with her toys, and…” glancing into the car she asked, “Hannah, did you remember to grab Sophie?”

          “Yep.”  Nikki found herself nose to nose with a fluffy pink unicorn.

          “Okay, I think we’ve got everything.”  Nikki gave Hannah a big long hug.  “I’ll miss you, but I should be home in a couple days.  Listen to Grandma and be good for the doctor on Monday.”

          “I don’t want to go to the doctor anymore.”

          “I know, Sweetheart. We have to though, all right?”

          Hannah nodded.  “Where’s Mr. Jess?” she asked when she didn’t see him. 

          “I don’t know.”

          “Are we going to see him again?”

          Nikki hated to disappoint her.  “I’m not sure.  Maybe someday.”

          Jack came up to the door and Hannah jumped into his arms.  “Love you, Daddy.”

          “I love you too, Hannah.”  He forced back all the emotions warring for expression.  “I’ll see you soon.”  He never wanted to let her go, but he put her down, worried about them making it home safely.  “Don’t forget to buckle up.”  He turned to Helen.  “Drive safely.  Call if you have any trouble at all and we’ll come get you.”

          “I will,” Helen replied.  “I’ll call as soon as we get to Nikki’s house.”

          “Thank you.”  Jack couldn’t help taking a quick look at the northern horizon as they waved goodbye.  He really didn’t like the idea of sending them off like this.  The clouds building in the north were darker than ever.  But above them the sun was starting to shine through.  Denver was only a couple hours away.  They’d be fine.

          For the next hour, Nikki and Jack hovered between the television and the panoramic windows in the hotel lobby.  Weather reports had quickly turned from occasional updates to constant monitoring. 

          “Heavy snows are now being reported just to the east of Vail,” the meteorologist stated, gesturing to current radar images to illustrate the storm’s unexpected shift.  “Officials from Denver to Breckenridge have already issued warnings limiting travel to emergency vehicles only as blizzard conditions make driving extremely hazardous.”

          “He was right,” Nikki spoke in an anxious whisper. 

          Jack was concentrating on the news report and barely heard her.  “What?”

          “Jess was right,” she repeated incredulously.  “How could he know?”

          “Right about what?” Jack questioned.  “What did he say?”

          “He told me to keep Hannah here, not to put her in the cancer trial.  He said it wouldn’t do any good.  He has no right to tell me to give up on her.”  Nikki stared at the unimpeachable evidence that Jess’ prediction about the storm was dead on.  “He also told me they were wrong about the timing of the storm.  He said it would come too soon.”

          “Even if he’s a meteorologist, there was no way he could have known for sure,” reasoned Jack.

          Nikki felt panic rise in her.  “There was no way he could name and describe nearly every star and galaxy in the heavens either, even ones that haven’t been discovered yet, or entice an elk calf to leave his herd to let a little girl pet him, or convince a hare to snuggle on her lap right after a flock of bluebirds joined her in dance.”  Nikki’s voice rose as the impossibility of it all obliterated her sense of reason.  “And there was absolutely no way he could lay his hands on a fractured tibia and heal it, completely, painlessly!”  Her eyes pleaded for a reasonable explanation.  “He asked me to trust him, but I just couldn’t.  Who is he, Jack?”

          Jack was lost for answers.  He’d sensed Jess was different, but he never imagined Nikki could get so caught up in the man’s magnetic personality to believe the impossible.  Gently taking Nikki’s hands in his, he tried to reassure her, “We’ll call your mother on the cell one more time.  If that doesn’t work, we’ll contact the state patrol and make sure there haven’t been any accidents involving a car matching yours.  I’m sure they’re fine.  It’s just going to take longer driving in this weather and she probably doesn’t want to be distracted reaching for her cell phone.”

          Working to rein in her sense of foreboding, Nikki nodded.  “Jack,” she questioned more calmly this time, “don’t you know what Jess does?”

          “I just met him yesterday,” he answered, not sure why she’d ask it that way.  “I assumed he was involved with the sciences in some way, though he didn’t actually say.”

          Nikki seemed pensive.

          “Why?” Jack pressed.

          “When I asked how long he’d known you, Jess told me he’s known you all your life.”

          “Why would he say that?”  It made no sense to Jack.  “He was walking along the road when the snow hit yesterday.  I gave him a ride to the hotel.”

          Nikki didn’t know what to think, and right now she was too worried to care.  She pulled out her cell phone and tried her mom once again.  Closing it when it went to voice mail, she looked to Jack with growing concern.  “I think it’s time to call the state patrol.”

          Jack made the call this time.  Nikki paced while she listened to him give a description of her car.  Pausing, she watched his face for any sign of news, good or bad.  The long silence while he waited increased the sense of dread building in her.  She couldn’t stand still.  Forcing her eyes to the television set, she saw that all of central Colorado was under a winter storm warning.  Outside the lobby windows, heavy snow was turning into complete white-out.  This couldn’t be happening.  It was fine when her mother and Hannah left.

          She turned back to Jack when he hung up the phone.  “Do they know anything?”

          He shook his head.  “Not yet.  There are too many accidents and vehicles off the road to keep track right now.  They’re going to call if they find anyone matching Helen and Hannah’s description.  In the mean time, they say to stay off the roads and wait for word.  I’m supposed to call back if we hear from your mother.”

          “Have you seen Jess anywhere?”  Nikki couldn’t explain her need to see him, to ask for his help.  If only she’d been superstitious enough to believe him.

          Jack glanced around the crowd lingering in the lobby.  The lounge and restaurant had closed shortly after Helen left.  “I haven’t seen him since we went up to our rooms earlier.”

          Nikki stared out the windows one more time.  Brief glimpses of the parking lot revealed huge mounds of snow where cars could be seen only minutes before.  “There’s no way they could drive through this.”

          “I know.”  Jack came up beside her, resting his arm reassuringly around her shoulders.  “Hopefully your mom was able to get off an exit and wait it out.  Don’t worry, Helen wouldn’t take any chances with Hannah along.”    

          “I know.”  Nikki shivered, the cold radiating from the windows chilling her.  “If only we knew they were safe somewhere.”

          “Come on,” encouraged Jack.  “Let’s sit over by the fire.  It shouldn’t be too long before someone calls with news.”

          In an effort to distract Nikki, Jack asked about her afternoon with Hannah.

          “It was wonderful,” Nikki told him.  She recounted all they’d done and how happy Hannah had been getting to pet and hold the animals.  “Jess called to the little snowshoe hare and it just hopped right into Hannah’s lap.”

          “You said something about birds?”

          “Bluebirds, at least a dozen of them.”  Nikki explained about the waterfall and their daughter’s carefree twirls in the mist.  “When she flushed out a flock of bluebirds they started to fly away until Jess stopped them.”

          She got Jack’s attention with that claim.  “Jess stopped them?”

          “I’m the realist, Jack.  But I know what I saw,” Nikki defended her statement.  “Jess motioned to the birds and they turned right toward him.  One landed on the palm of his hand.  I still don’t believe what I witnessed, but he sent the bird back in Hannah’s direction and all the others followed.”  Nikki gestured with her hands.  “He spoke to them and they flew, swirling around Hannah in a playful dance.  What kind of man can make wild birds dance?”

          “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “While we were having coffee yesterday we got talking about Hannah.  I was careful not to say anything about her illness, but I got the eerie impression he already knew.  He also repeated parts of my own speeches verbatim when I threw some of my doubts about God at him.”

          Nikki’s incredulous look discomfited Jack.  “You have doubts?”

          Jack was too vulnerable right now to get defensive.  He wanted to pray for Hannah and Helen’s safety, but the uncertainties he admitted to troubled him.  “Do you think I can see what Hannah is going through and not question God’s benevolence?”  He pressed his hands against the throbbing in his temples. 

          “What did Jess say?”

          “After he used my own words to counter my reservations?” Jack responded in frustration.  “He said God knows and understands all, but that doesn’t mean He causes all.  He said God may allow suffering, but he also allows freedom.  It’s up to us what we do with it.”

          “He out-debated me too,” she disclosed.  “I can usually argue circles around anyone who even attempts to defend a God hypothesis.”

          “I’ve noticed.”

          Nikki smiled at Jack, nudging him with her shoulder in mock protest at his quip.  The contact felt good, so she stayed, allowing her head to rest on his arm.  “He poked a few holes in some of my colleagues’ pet theories,” she commented.  “I finally shut up and let him name every star in the universe like you used to do.”  She was silent for a short time, remembering.  “He knew our middle names too somehow.”

          “Whose?”

          “Hannah’s and mine,” Nikki replied.  “I got a little distracted when Jess started expounding the properties of distant galaxies.  By the way, he said you’re on the right track with your research on the Rosette Nebula – something about dense dust lanes and new star formation.  Then he pretended to name some undiscovered galaxy clusters after Hannah and me to regain my attention.  I never use my middle name.  How could he know it?”

          “How could he know I’ve been researching the Rosette Nebula?  There are only a handful of astronomers who know I’ve been assisting with the international panel’s new imaging study.”  Jack was at a total loss.  “Maybe he’s a psychic of some sort.  He sure seemed to read what was on my mind.”

          “The human brain is powerful, but I don’t believe in psychics.”  Nikki shook her head emphasizing the point.  “This afternoon when we got talking about my dad, Jess had the audacity to tell me he died from a cerebral hemorrhage, a burst aneurysm, like he could know something like that.”

          “Is it possible it wasn’t a heart attack?”

          “Sure, the symptoms could’ve matched either cause.” Nikki’s fists balled, making her knuckles white.  “But there’s no way Jess could know what happened to my dad even if someone described all the symptoms to him.  Only a crazy person could sound so confident about things he has no clue about.”

          “Wasn’t he confident about the storm too?” Jack wondered.
           Jack’s cell phone rang before Nikki had a chance to reply.