Chapter 1
"PART 2
The calf lay motionless in the straw while the blizzard hammered the barn walls like a thousand fists.
“Bring the crate closer!” Serena shouted.
Elias obeyed without hesitation. Together they wrapped the newborn in dry blankets and lowered it into the wooden warming box Serena had lined with wool.
For several terrible seconds, nothing happened.
Then the calf shuddered.
A faint breath escaped its nose.
Elias stared at Serena. “You knew this could happen?”
“I knew winter doesn’t care whether we’re ready.”
Outside, the wind screamed louder.
They followed the guide rope back toward the cabin, moving hand over hand through snow so thick Elias could barely see Serena directly ahead of him.
Halfway across the yard, the rope suddenly went slack.
Serena froze.
“The post.”
A violent gust had torn one anchor loose.
Elias grabbed her coat just as another blast nearly knocked her down.
They crawled the remaining distance and slammed the cabin door behind them.
Inside, Beatrice stood pale beside the stove.
“Elsie’s burning up.”
Serena hurried to the baby.
The little girl’s cheeks were flushed, her breathing shallow.
For the next several hours, Serena cooled her forehead, kept her hydrated, and watched every breath while Elias fed the fire.
By midnight, the temperature inside began dropping.
“Wood?” Serena asked.
“Enough until morning,” Elias said.
Serena looked toward the ceiling.
“No. Something’s wrong.”
A cracking sound came from above.
Everyone went silent.
Snow had accumulated against the weakened kitchen roof.
Serena immediately ordered the cradles moved into the reinforced winter room.
Beatrice started to protest.
Then the ceiling groaned.
Seconds after they carried the twins out, part of the kitchen roof collapsed beneath the snow.
Beatrice stared at the wreckage.
If Serena had not prepared that smaller room, the children could have been beneath it.
Her expression finally changed.
But before anyone could speak, three desperate knocks sounded against the front door.
Elias reached for his rifle.
“No one could reach us in this storm.”
Another knock.
Serena opened the door.
A half-frozen man collapsed inside.
It was Hollis.
Blood stained his sleeve.
“The bridge is gone,” he gasped. “And that isn’t the worst of it.”
He looked directly at Serena.
“There are riders coming for you.”
Elias slowly turned toward her.
Serena’s face went white.
Because she knew exactly who Hollis meant.
And suddenly Elias understood something terrifying.
Serena had never arrived at Black Juniper Ranch by accident.