Silence, then, "Who--? Is someone there?"
"It's a two-way radio," Nick said. "If you interrupt him, he can't hear you."
"Nick's with me," I repeated. "And we're fine."
More silence and I thought I'd screwed up the transmission again, then, faintly, "Elena?"
"Yes, unless Nick found a woman in the forest, which I suppose wouldn't be too surprising."
"Where are you? Stay right there. You said you're fine? How fine? Are you hurt? What're you wearing? Tell Nick to give you his--"
"I'm battered, but fine," I said. "And if I needed a coat, Nick would have already given me his."
"What?"
"You can't interrupt him," Nick murmured. "As tempting as it might be. Tell him we're at..."
I glanced over to see him operating another handheld device.
"At least this has a signal," he said. "Too bad the screen isn't made for a hundred below. Give me a sec to clear the condensation and I'll have our coordinates."
"You got lost... with a GPS?"
"Elena?" Clay's voice crackled through the radio. "Are you there? What's going on? Talk to--"
I hit the call button, hoping that would cut him off, then said, "I'm still here. Nick's getting you our coordinates. He's having trouble reading--Oh, wait."
Nick passed over the unit. I squinted at the foggy display, then read off the numbers.
"How close is that to you?" I asked.
Silence.
I asked again. Still nothing. We tried the call button, but there was no answer.
"Lost him," I muttered. "And the question is: Did it happen before or after he got the coordinates?"
The wolves howled again. They were closer now, on the move. A distant one answered.
"Now that's foolproof communication," Nick said. "Maybe if we Change and howl..."
"Possible. Though we might also alert the Teslers. But that does give me an idea."
I whistled. Then whistled again.
"I'm not sure Clay will be close enough to hear that," Nick said.
"No, but I'm hoping the wolves will. I want to talk to one."
"Um, okay." Nick studied my face for signs of hypothermic dementia. "I don't think wolves come when you whistle."
"This one might."
We stepped off the path to wait, getting behind a windbreak and hunkering down. Sure enough, the dark red mutt showed up. He didn't exactly come bounding over the snow. He drew close, then circled, as if making sure it was me before he answered... or maybe trying to decide whether he wanted to bother.
When I caught a whiff of him on the breeze, I slipped into his path.
"I need your help," I said.