Woman of Courage

Linda suddenly started to shiver.  She was intensely watching the beam of light which her car headlights threw against the winding road. They flashed up to the sides of the steep hills, which now replaced the valley where she had just passed through. It was back a ways  as she traversed the long valley, that she came to the detour sign. It had not concerned her at first, but now she seemed to be traveling a long way without seeing any sign of habitation. Unless she acknowledged the two skinny coyotes that had slunk away from her lights half a mile back. The road was climbing ever upwards, and she shivered again as she noticed that it was getting very windy. Then with a heavy gust of wind, large drops of rain hammered her windshield. Within minutes the rain had become a real downpour. Linda could hardly see the road even with her wipers going as fast as they could. The rain seemed to lessen and she had a feeling of relief, which was short lived as sleet began to pelt her windshield . The night was very black, lending a feeling of isolation. Linda had a growing feeling of dread that she had somehow taken a wrong turn near the detour. Judging from the small amount of information she had concerning her destination, she should have reached some town or ranch by now. The road seemed to double back on itself as it climbed upwards and then began to level off. Due to the sleet  which had now turned into a heavy downfall of snow, Linda could hardly see the road. She had slowed down considerably, when all of a sudden her car lurched towards the side of the road.

Lying in the deep grass next to a tree was the body of a man. At first she became paralyzed with fear. Being a nurse she was not unfamiliar with a dying or dead person. However the situation was somewhat frightening. She disciplined herself to approach the inert figure. He was lying on his side, and the exposed leg was covered with blood. Upon closer scrutiny she observed  blood on his hatless scalp.  She could feel a very faint pulse in the limp wrist. Besides his wounds, the man must be suffering from hypothermia. Who knew how long he had been there. Linda wondered how she was going to be able to move him, as he had to be warmed up, and have his wounds attended to. She decided that the first thing to do was to start a fire in the cabin, which had a supply of wood .She didn’t want to move him until the cabin was warm. She tore up some items and bandaged his leg temporarily until she could clean it up.  The head wound had bled a lot but appeared to be superficial.

Linda knew that when she moved him it would start the bleeding again. She put some water on the stove to heat. There was a strong looking  canvas tarp in the cabin, and she hoped to use it to pull him to the cabin. She took the tarp out and with a great effort managed to roll him onto it