Elena: They blocked the main road! How are we going to get to the city now?!
Marcus: My truck is hidden behind the old logging shed across the creek.
Clara: The wooden bridge over the creek collapsed last winter, Marcus! We'll have to wade through the ice water!
Marcus: The water is only knee-deep right now. Put your boots tight and hold on to my belt.
Elena: I can hear them up by the main house! They realized we aren't in the bedrooms!
Richard: Check the carriage house! They used the old tunnel!
Shouts echoed down the snowy hillside as flashlight beams swept across the white pine trees above them.
Marcus: Run! Don't look back!
Clara gathered the long skirts of her black dress, running through the thigh-deep snow drifts toward the frozen creek bank.
The icy wind stung her cheeks, but the adrenaline pulsing through her veins pushed away the biting cold.
Clara: Elena, watch out for that fallen branch!
Elena: Whoa! I got it! I'm right behind you!
They splashed into the rushing creek water, the freezing liquid soaking through Clara's leather boots instantly.
Clara gasped from the sharp shock of the cold, but Marcus gripped her waist tightly, hauling her up the slippery opposite bank.
Marcus: Good job, Clara! Almost there! Just fifty more yards!
Thug: Over there! I see them near the logging shed!
A flashlight beam pinned Clara right against the wall of the wooden shed as two thugs came running down the snowy slope.
Thug: Stop right there, lady! Drop the envelope!
Marcus: Get behind the truck, girls!
Marcus pulled a heavy iron tire iron from the bed of his pickup truck, stepping directly between Clara and the oncoming men.
Thug: Step aside, leather jacket! You're outmatched two to one!
Marcus: I've been waiting three years for this match. Come get it.
The first thug lunged forward, swinging a heavy wooden club toward Marcus's head.
Marcus ducked under the wild swing, driving the tire iron into the man's ribs with a sickening thud.
The thug doubled over into the snow, groaning in pain as Marcus kicked his weapon far out across the ice.
Thug 2: You're dead, man!
The second thug tackled Marcus to the ground, both men rolling into the deep snow bank in a frenzy of fists and snow dust.
Clara: Marcus!
Clara didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy frozen pine log from the woodpile beside the shed, swinging it with all her strength into the back of the second thug's shoulder.
Thug 2: Argh!
The man collapsed onto his side, clutching his back as Marcus shoved him off and scrambled back to his feet.
Marcus: Get in the truck! Now!
Marcus unlocked the doors, shoving Clara and Elena into the cab before climbing behind the wheel himself.
He turned the key, and the heavy V8 engine roared to life, spraying snow out from beneath the tires as he slammed the truck into reverse.
Clara: Look out! Richard is coming down the driveway in his SUV!
Marcus: Hold on tight! We're breaking through the wooden fence!