1
DAISY
I was cold. Bitterly cold. I’d never been so cold in my life. If I ever survived this, I’d put a pot-bellied stove in every room of my house, wear wool stockings even in the summer. I had long lost feeling in my fingers and toes, my dress and coat beginning to stiffen and freeze. I crawled across the snowy ground, making it only a few feet from the river’s edge.
At first, the shock of the water had taken the air from my lungs, but it also spurred me right out of it. It was too late. I was wet from head to toe. My horse that had tossed me stood placidly beside the bank, his warm nose nuzzling me. My teeth chattered loudly, otherwise I would have scolded the animal for being skittish and unseating me. What had caused the animal to rear, I wasn’t sure. It mattered no longer, for th
