Winter was no hardship for Ethan Beck. Plenty of firewood to heat his cabin, oats and hay for his horse, Zephyr, for Rebecca's dapple-gray pony, Starlight, and for Moo, his Jersey cow. What's hard was losing his wife and son to the fever two years ago. So when the skies turned an ominous dark purple, and the sun went down, and the wind picked up, and any animal with half a brain took shelter from the coming storm ... Ethan stepped up onto the porch. He checked the latches on one set of shutters and then the other. Satisfied, he turned toward the door. An unfamiliar sound blew to him on the...