So now the plan was for the three men to venture forward into this prairie blizzard and reach the town. There they could purchase supplies and return. Somehow, the three, or perhaps all four of them, decided that it would be safer for Stormy to stay in camp. After tucking her into the wagon as warm and snugly as they could, they said their good-byes and left her there alone.
The three men did find their way to the town, although with considerable difficulty and in the taking of several hours. They purchased supplies, which gives an indication that they had left their farm somewhat unsupplied and unprepared for such a venture. Now they were ready to make the return trip to where they had left Stormy ensconced in the wagon. Certainly they were all concerned for her situation, alone on the open prairie in the middle of a blizzard.
As they traveled the wind increased to an absolute fury, seeming to come from every direction at once. It swirled around them. It dove at them. And all the while it drove the biting snow into their faces and eyes, blinding them as to which direction they should go. Exhausted, they traveled on through the day until, at last, the day was done and still they had not come in site of the wagon where Stormy awaited them. As darkness fell in a swirling world of blinding white and deceptive blue shadows they realized that they must return to the town. This was not a problem as they could yet see the lights of the town. They had, like so many others who became lost in a blinding snowstorm on the prairie, been traveling in circles.
It must have been an exceeding long night the three men endured. Though probably worm and out of the storm, the utmost thought in their minds and hearts surely was poor Stormy. Would they find her alive, her sweet face smiling in greeting? Or had her loving farewell the previous day been her final farewell to those she loved, and trusted, most? Would they discover her warmth of spirit and radiant mood cold and still in frozen death?
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