That's Snow Biz!

I shot over my shoulder as I headed for the garage, "Gus, get him in a cool shower and then warm it up, gradually. I'll get the wife."

"On it." He grunted as he headed for the spiral staircase, now with our wives in tow, gasping and remarking about the man's condition.

I went into the garage and headed for the gear locker - snow shoes. We had them, never used them - never needed them. Honestly, I didn't know why they were there.

I knew he came from downhill; his tracks came from that direction. Apparently, his wife was in a car, hopefully not frozen. Maybe she could walk, maybe she couldn't. If she couldn't, there was no way I'd be able to carry her uphill in the snow, even for a short distance. Sled, I needed a sled - one thing we didn't have. Drag her - tarp - there was a paint-spattered blue tarp I remembered seeing in one of the lockers. I got ready fast. I grabbed the tarp and a pair of snowshoes. I thought a moment and grabbed a second pair. I took the folded tarp and shoved inside my coat and zipped up. I stepped into the frigid air and fastened the bindings on the snowshoes. I headed out. Snow was still falling lightly, but I could see the man's tracks, not that it mattered, I just had to head downhill until I ran into a car.

I felt like I had giant clown shoes on. But I got used to the exaggerated steps and started making good time. It was cold, but not unbearable as there was no wind, thankfully. When I started, I couldn't see a car past the curve that was about a quarter of a mile down the road. This was going to suck. As I continued around the long, slow curve, there was still no car in sight.

Then, as the road straightened out, I could see it. It looked to be a half mile away. I couldn't judge for sure, but it was still damn far away - it was going to be a long trip back. The car was covered with close to two feet of snow. They had been there a long time. My adrenalin kicked in and I picked up the pace. Hopefully I was in time. I didn't want to entertain the alternative. As I reached the car, I couldn't see in; the windows were iced over.

With dread, I approached the door, knocked snow out of the way and grabbed the handle. I pulled - stuck, damn. I pulled again - no dice. I kicked the door hard a couple of times to hopefully jar it loose - I didn't worry about dents. I grabbed the door again and jerked. It lurched open. Immediately, I saw the woman inside.

She looked like an angel, long blonde hair cascading around her beautiful face. In spite of her tan, her face was pale with blue lips and she was shivering uncontrollably. Damn.

"M-my hus-b-band..."

"We have him, he's okay. You're going to be okay, but I have to get you inside, quickly."

"O-o-k-k-kay." She started to get out of the car. I reached in and took her arm and helped her out. She stiffly stood and immediately sunk into the snow.

"I have snowshoes. Can you walk?"

"I can."

"Okay. Sit on the edge of the seat and I'll get these shoes on you."

With some difficulty, I got the shoes strapped to her feet. I helped her stand. She was shaky on her feet and I helped her balance. Damn, she was tall. I couldn't have carried her if I wanted. Telling her to take it slow, we started up the road, not that you could see it. The snow was picking up again, and it was getting very white out. I know about white-outs and how you can get lost. That was on my mind, but I knew at least I had an ally in the hill - keep pointed uphill.

Our progress was slow, but we were making it. I had her by the arm, helping steady her as much as I could and continued to give her encouragement. She kept nodding her head and saying she was okay - right up to when she fell forward, face first into the snow.

I quickly got her turned over and unstrapped the snowshoes. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly, but breathing! I quickly got the tarp out of my coat and spread it. I rolled her onto the tarp then pulled it around her. All the time, I was talking to her, telling her it would be okay. Her eyes fluttered.

"I, I got dizzy. Sorry."

"No, no, no. Don't worry. I've got you. You rest. I'm going to get you to the house."

I wasn't so sure about that. As soon as I started pulling her in the makeshift sling, I discovered two problems - I was having trouble walking in my snowshoes and not bumping into the tarp. I needed more room between the tarp and me, and she was sinking into the soft snow making it harder to pull than I expected. Within minutes, I was laboring, but I found if I took a long pull on the tarp then a long step, then a long pull, I could make progress - but not enough. I was giving out and getting cold. She had to be freezing. I was starting to panic a little; something I don't do, but this was life or death.

I don't know how long I struggled, lungs freezing, muscles burning...

That's when I saw the dark shape in the snow coming towards me. Gus. He was moving in a kind of loping stride in his snowshoes, coming as fast as he could.

When he got to me, I was almost in tears. "She's freezing. We got to get her inside. I couldn't go fast enough..."

Gus sensed the panic in my voice, "Easy big guy, we got this. I'm here. We're gonna get this little lady to the house, don't worry."

He reached down and unwrapped the tarp, explaining it was the only way. We had to each take a corner to pull her fast enough. I was about to protest that she'd freeze when he took his coat off and laid it on her. I understood. We could make it to the house without our coats. I tugged mine off and laid it on her legs. The cold air hit my sweaty body like a blast of ice water. We grabbed the tarp and started dragging. My legs were already burning and my arms and shoulders ached, but I dug deep and forged ahead. We had to get her inside.

I was about to give out. My legs and arms, my whole body was screaming at me, my lungs were burning from sucking in cold air; but then through the thickening snow, I saw light from the house and that was all I needed. When we got to the door, we quickly removed our snowshoes. I shrugged the door open and Gus lifted the woman up.

"Holy Crap. She's heavy!" he said as he stood, grunting. I knew his arms and legs had to be exhausted, but Gus is a bull of a man, one of the strongest I've ever known, and he wasn't going to stop now. He apologized to the woman, "Sorry, doll, but I gotta put you over my shoulder to get you up the stairs. I may need a little help Jake. You get behind me and take a little weight and steady me," he directed.

When he got to the stairs, I got behind him and held the woman's shoulders and lifted on them in concert with Gus's efforts and we headed up the stairs. The girls were waiting for us.

Maria saw the shape we were both in. "Put her down. We'll take her from here."

I started to protest, but somebody punched me in the face.

Jen and Maria quickly stripped the woman's clothes and started rubbing her down with hot towels from the dryer until she came around.

Gus had dropped to the floor, sitting on his haunches, exhausted.

My wife started talking to her, "Honey, can you hear me. Okay, we need to get you upstairs, but we can't carry you. We need to stand you up, then we can get you up the stairs. We have to get you into some warm water, okay?"

"I can stand, I..." As she sat up she swooned and started to fall back, but they held her up.

"Slow and easy. Slow and easy," Jen repeated "We just got to get you to your feet."

It took a minute, but they got her standing, and one under each shoulder, they laboriously worked their way up the wide, spiral stairs with Jen on the inside and Maria on the outside. When they were over half way, the woman passed out again and slumped. They couldn't hold her up and slumped with her. That's when they heard Gus at the bottom of the stairs.

Though still exhausted, he'd gotten a second wind and now had some strength back. He lumbered up the stairs.

"Got her," he mumbled, "Turn her around and put her over my shoulder, then get behind me, just in case." Maria and Jen did as he said, and between them, they got her to the tub, which was already filled with warm water. After initially warming her husband in the shower, they had run the tub full of water and put him in there till he got his circulation back. He was now in bed under a bunch of blankets, passed out from fatigue.

They slid her into the tub and Maria got in with her, holding her up and talking to her. "Jen, go check on Jake. He passed out. See if he's okay. He may have broken his nose when he fell. Gus, you're freezing and exhausted. Get in the shower and sit down and just let the water warm you up."

"You got it, Sis."

I had a coppery taste in my mouth and somebody was jostling me. The cobwebs began to clear and I heard, "Come on, damn it. I can't pick you up you big bastard. Nap time's over. We have to get you warm. You're freezing. Damn it, Jake, wake up."

"Awate," I mumbled, "I'm awate. What th' fup happum? My mowf hurps."

"You passed out, you big galoot. Damn good thing your head was turned right or you would have a busted nose to go along with whatever damage you did to your mouth and head. Come on, let's get you to a shower."

She helped me stand and walk up the stairs to the front bathroom, got me undressed and into the shower. The cool water felt like hot ice picks stabbing my upper body. My hands and feet burned like they were on fire, but I knew from past experience, that's not a bad thing - it's a good sign - no damage. The side of my head, my jaw and my mouth felt like somebody had punched the crap out of me. But, as Jen warmed the water up, I started to feel better and my body finally quit shivering. Jen dried me off and helped get into some shorts and a shirt.

"Thanks, babe. I guess I was a mess."

She answered, "You're still a mess. Your lip and cheek are swollen and you're still bleeding a little from your mouth. Let me take a look."

Painfully, I opened my mouth. Jen looked and checked my tongue and felt my teeth.

"Well, all your teeth are there, though a couple are loose. You're bleeding from your gums a little and you cut the inside of your cheek, but you didn't bite your tongue. You'll survive." Then she added, "And thanks to you two, our guests are going to survive, too."

She had tears in her eyes. I hugged her close. She was warm and felt good. "Hey it's okay," I said, "Your bull of a husband saved us. I couldn't make it back. He showed up just in time..." I started to choke up.

"Hey, I know what you did, too. You're both pretty amazing guys." Then, with a saucy lilt in her voice, she added, "That's why we let you fuck us!"

"Bullshit," I said, "You let us fuck you because we've got big dicks!"

"Well I see he's okay, better than I expected." It was my wife's voice. She had just walked in - impeccable timing.

"Hi, honey. I can explain that last comment..."

Maria laughed, "Save it babe. I'm happy you're okay. We didn't know for sure that you guys would make it back, or if you would find that girl...alive or...or...damn, it was snowing so hard, so cold..." Her voice wavered. She was leaking tears. We hugged, tightly.

"It's okay. Everything's okay. And you girls did great, too. We all did good!"

Leaning back from me and looking at my face, my wife remarked, "Jeez, babe, you look like you got kicked by a horse. Does it hurt?"

"A little."

Jen added, "I checked. His teeth are all there; a couple are loose, but otherwise, he's just a little beat up."

I asked, "How are our guests doing? I wasn't sure the woman would make it. She was in the first stages of hypothermia when I got to the car and then I don't know how long we were out in the freezing cold."

Maria answered, "You were gone almost two hours." Her voice caught, then she continued, "She's okay. They're both okay, but I think it was a very close thing. We checked her husband's feet after we got him warm and in bed - no signs of frostbite. I think they'll both recover just fine."

"I'm hungry." I suddenly realized I was starving.

Gus walked in, "Amen, brother. I could eat a damn horse, a rotten, damn, festering carcass of a horse. Savin' peoples' asses is hard work!"

Eloquent - as always.

Jen gave Gus a loving slap on the cheek and headed downstairs, "I'll start some grub for our heroes."

Maria gave me another big hug and a warm, painful kiss, "I'll help Jen. Why don't you two heroes come down and have some coffee while we get some food ready?" She headed downstairs, but stopped and gave Gus a warm hug on her way.

After she left, he looked at me, "You okay, big guy? When you passed out, I wasn't sure if you'd died on me. But, I was too damn tired to do anything if you had. Man, that is the tiredest I have ever been in my fuckin' life!"

I said, "Brother, you'll never know how happy I was to see you coming through that snow. I knew I wasn't going to make it to the house with the woman and I couldn't leave her. It was not a good situation."

"Well, we made it, and I'm glad you didn't croak. I was kiddin' when I said I could take care of both our wives if you died. Nobody could handle those two women by themselves, not for very long, you know, sex-wise; fuck, not even me!"

We laughed. We both knew it had been a close thing. I said, "Let's get some coffee...and put a little brandy in it...hell, a lot of brandy!"

Gus slapped me on the back and replied, "Amen brother!" We headed downstairs.

The next morning, I awoke feeling like somebody had run over me with one of those big soil compactors that have the big, knobby, metal wheels - then backed up and did it again. My whole body ached and my face, forget about it. I rolled over to find Maria was already up. I could hear voices downstairs and through the open bedroom door I could smell bacon cooking. I crawled out of bed and headed to the shower. After a long time under a hot stream of water, I started to feel human and my limbs started to loosen up. I toweled off and headed to the closet to get clothes.

As I was reaching in the closet for a pullover sweater, I felt a pair of small hands reach around me, one grasping my soft cock and the other cupping my balls.

"Not now, Gus. I'm trying to get dressed!"

Jen, in her deepest voice, joked back, "Oh, come on honey, what's a little 'man love' between old pals?"

I slowly turned around and she hung onto my penis. "Oh my, I think he's happy to see me," she joked as she slowly stroked my expanding dick.

"Always," I said and bent down and gave her a warm kiss, "but you need to stop that if I'm not going to pole vault over the bannister and bust the other side of my face."

"We can't have that. You have to meet your new fans. Everybody's waiting downstairs. Join us when you're dressed." With that, she gave my dick a squeeze, patted my ass and headed downstairs.

"Naughty little bitch." I muttered as she left.

She turned her head and winked as she walked out the door.

VII. HOUSE GUESTS

I finished dressing, and headed downstairs. Maria was nearest me when I entered the kitchen where everybody was gathered and introduced me to our guests.

"Tim, Sarah, this is my husband Jake. You'll have to pardon his looks...oh, hon, I didn't mean it that way...he fell after getting Sarah here last night."

"It's okay, honey, I knew what you meant. Sarah, Tim, very nice to meet you. I'm very happy and very relieved to see you doing well."

Tim and Sarah both approached me. Tim reached me first and grabbing my hand, shook it vigorously, "I can't thank you enough for saving my wife. I will forever..." He choked up.

"Hey, I'm just glad we were in time. It was a close call."

As he released my hand, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, which I noticed belonged to one of my shirts, and continued to thank me and turned and thanked Gus, probably again, who was waving him off. Gus isn't good at praise, or any attention for that matter.

Then his wife, Sarah, stepped up to me.

"Jake, sir, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I thought I was going to die in that car. I thought I would never see my husband again." Overcome with emotion, she paused, got her composure and continued, "I remember your face," she reached her hand up tentatively and touched my swollen cheek, "when you opened the car door, I looked up and saw your face. I couldn't believe it. But you were there, and..." She started sobbing and threw her arms around me and cried. It was then that I realized just how tall she was, almost six feet, barely shorter than me. Her face was pressed into my neck. I could smell the lingering scent of shampoo in her hair. I was very aware of her full, firm breasts pressing into my chest. Crap! I was getting excited. This woman almost died, was expressing her heartfelt thanks, and I was getting excited. In fairness to me, as I reflected, she was beautiful.

At first, when she hugged me, I didn't know what to do with my hands, but realized I couldn't just let my arms hang there, so I put my hands on the backs of her shoulders and patted her.

"Hey, you were brave and strong. If you hadn't walked as far as you did, we might not have made it the rest of the way. Your husband is married to a very strong woman." Damn, I was about to start crying, myself. Across the room, I could see both Maria and Jen leaking tears and wiping at them. Gradually, Sarah released me and I dropped my hands from her shoulders. She reached for my hands and brought them up between us.

"There will always be a special place in my heart and my memory for you. You and Gus gave me back my life and my husband."

She kissed me dead on the lips, firmly! She stepped back, reaching for her husband's hand and they stepped back together, still looking at me with emotion-filled eyes.

I felt very uncomfortable.

Maria spoke up, "Well, now that we're all here, breakfast is ready. Why don't we get to the table?"

As we sat and ate, Tim and Sarah recounted how they ended up in their life-threatening situation. They were headed up to their uncle's cabin, about 10 or 15 miles beyond ours, they guessed. They weren't sure how far they had come. They had gotten a late start, and by the time they were in the foothills, the snow was coming down pretty good, but at that elevation, it wasn't sticking so they weren't alarmed yet. Also, there car was all-wheel drive and they were not too concerned about poor road conditions as long as they didn't get too bad, which they did.

By the time they realized they were in trouble, they were pretty far up the mountain. At first, they thought they could reach their uncle's cabin, but the snow was coming down too heavily and they decided to turn around. But, there was nowhere to safely turn around, so they continued on, the car still holding the road well. Then visibility and traction abandoned them about the same time. The snow got too deep and the car high centered and lost traction.

They were in white-out conditions, not able to see the road, so they did the only thing they could. They stopped. Not knowing where they were, how far it was to their uncle's cabin, and knowing there was nothing behind them for many miles, they were stranded.

It wasn't until sometime after 5 a.m. that a glimmer of hope appeared, and at the same time, desperation arrived. The car ran out of gas - no more heat. But, in the distance up ahead, past the curve in the road, they could see a faint glow of light through the snow, which had temporarily lessened.

(We had flipped the deck lights on to watch the snow fall while we had sex. That's the light they saw, if not for that...)

They thought, "That has to be man-made; there has to be a house up there." They couldn't tell how far it was, but Tim knew he had to try to reach that house - and hope somebody was there, or at least, that it was open.