Downhill Slide

This week’s Mustard Seed continues from where we left off with warm hearts and cold everything else.
With just enough gas to get us over the hill and on to the next gas station we were on our way again. Turning the heater on in our VW van only created a cold draft. We found it better to leave it off. I bundled up with so many layers of clothes I could barely squeeze behind the steering wheel. My sister had just as many clothes plus all our blankets. We were still freezing.
We stopped at a café, more to warm up than to eat. A wood burning stove crackled in the middle of the seating area. We pulled chairs close and sat. Unable to read the menu, we managed to order tea and food. I’m not sure if we had thick soup or thin stew but it was warm and tasty. Our waiter/cook was the only other person there. He had plenty to say, though I have no idea what. It did sound pleasant though.
     After thawing most of the way through I set off to satisfy another need. The front of the diner rested on the edge of the gravel parking lot. The rest was stood on stilts on a steep hill. The restroom resembled an outhouse. Everything that went through the opening rolled down the hill below. As cold as the draft was that came up from below, I was glad we weren’t there in the heat of summer.
      As we warmed up we shed layers until we were down to just a few. The proprietor refreshed our tea regularly and seemed glad of the company even though we could only communicate in gestures. Eventually we donned our layers and ventured once more into the cold. I’m sure the owner knew we were thanking him heartily.
      The road was very long and very straight. The food and warmth calmed my sister and the drone of the engine and wheels lulled her to sleep. After a few hours we came to the end of the plateau to find a very steep decline. The road was a series of switchbacks. I learned from my previous experience with black ice to proceed very slowly. I took my foot completely off the gas pedal and shifted to a lower gear. As I approached the first turn I found that pressing the brakes actually caused the van to accelerate. I switched off the ignition to maximize the braking effect of the engine compression. When the time came to turn the steering wheel would not budge. I was sure we were about to slam into the cliff before us. Unable to do much more, I prayed. The ruts in the road were just deep enough to steer us around the bend. Phew! The next bend was even worse; we were about to dive over the cliff. My prayers became more fervent. I was too scared to even count the switchbacks. I looked over to my still sleeping sister. I debated with myself whether to wake her up to say goodbye or let her sleep and spare her the terror. I chose the latter.
      Thankfully either the ruts or the prayers proved just enough to steer around each curve.
     As the road levelled out we came to a stop. I got out and examined what had gone wrong with our steering. I found that ice had built up inside the wheel wells to within a sixteenth of an inch of the tires. As I kicked at the ice to knock it lose I jarred my sister awake. She looked out the window and asked what I was doing. Still very shaken, all I could say was, “Go back to sleep.” 
Next week: Next Country.
                                                               God bless.

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