Each time the earth shook, Irene had to whisper comforting words to Sammy in hopes that he wouldn't panic and knock things over in the house she was borrowing for warmth. She could see his eyes widen by the light of the fire, and his body would tense up each time.
"It's alright," she would utter to him. "It'll be over in a sec."
So far, he had been a good horse who didn't scare easily, and that was important in such a journey as what they were experiencing. However, it was jarring even for her because she had no explanation except that it was a persistent avalanche. Was that a possibility? Could snow persistently fall like that?
As she lay there, her sleep interrupted by the shaking of the ground, she quietly wondered if there was simply that much snow in the arctic north. It would have been useful for her father and grandmother to tell her as such before she went.
