A couple from India.

Keith and Virginia drove up toward the pass. At a curve at the beginning of an upgrade, they saw an older pickup with a camper back off the shoulder of the road. It looked from the tire tracks like they'd tried to turn around and gotten stuck in the thicker snow. The pickup had shiny mylar stickers on the back -- ASHOK in script letters across the back of the camper, and a map of India on the tailgate. The little cloud from the tailpipe said their engine was still running, so at least they would have heat.

Virginia tried to check in on their 4WD's two-way radio, but she couldn't raise their dispatcher. Keith adjusted his orange safety vest, straightened the "Roadside Assistance" emblem, tapped twice on the horn, and got out to see who was stuck.

As Keith approached, the driver's window cranked down. "Afternoon," Keith said. "I'm Keith. We're here from the county road assistance service. We got a call that you needed help. Are you all OK in there?"

The driver was a man with dark hair, thick eyebrows, and brown skin. "Hello," he said. "Yes, we are fine, but we are stuck here. I am Sanjay, this is my wife Anjali." His accent reminded Keith of the Indian doctor in the rural clinic where he and Ginny went for checkups.

Keith could see a woman in the passenger seat. She was similarly colored, with large, liquid dark eyes and long black hair. She was wearing a red and gold nylon jacket.

Virginia got out and stood behind Keith.

"And this is my partner Virginia," She gave him a look. "And my wife, too."

"Do they have a phone?" Anjali asked. "Your cell is dead flat and we need to call Ashok."

"You planning to meet someone?" Keith asked.

"We were going to meet Ashok at Cave Springs tonight. He'll be worried if we don't let him know."

Virginia pretended to cough to mask a smile. Cave Springs, on the other side of the pass, was a coed nude hot spring resort. It was where Keith and Virginia had first met, and they liked to visit it often. Keith managed to hold a straight face.

Anjali said from inside the car, "Ask them can they pull us out? Or else..." She added a brief phrase in a language Keith and Virginia didn't recognize. Virginia thought she was shifting uncomfortably.

Sanjay said, "What do you think, can you pull us out soon?"

"You've got a two-wheel drive there?" Keith asked.

"Yes, Ashok said it was rear wheel drive when he lent it to us," Sanjay said.

"Well," Keith said, "we could pull you out, but the road's not passable for you up or down. If you're in a hurry to get out of the snow, we'll just give you a ride back to our place and get your truck later. Or we can take the time to pull it out now and you can follow us back, so if there's a break in the weather, you could get going early tomorrow.

Virginia looked at Anjali again. She had a tense expression on her face and was holding her legs tightly together.