Philotes took a moment to gather herself, catch her breath and try to unscramble her brains because they weren't going to get far at all if she just laid around dazed and confused. It was in that quiet moment that she felt something moving in her skirt. It was a mark of how dazed she was that she didn't immediately smack at whatever it was but instead looked down and asked, “Is that you stupid chipmunk?”
Before she got an answer, whatever it might have been, though really she had no idea what a chipmunk conversation might sound like, Idun was back and offering her hand. Though she wasn't sure she was really ready to be vertical again, Lottie took the hand and, with help, got up off the barn floor. She shook her head slightly, as though to shake away the dizziness.
“Alright,” she said. “We have the horse. When I open the door, you have to hold onto his halter so he doesn't wander off, alright? The plow was... to the right? Left? No, right. It was to the right. You lead him over there and pet him while I hook him up. We need him to stay calm. Because we're leading him back into the fire and he's not going to like that much, so the calmer we start out, the better. Got it?”
Lottie nodded, then moved toward the door, feeling something furry and mildly scratchy brushing her leg as she did so. She really hoped it was the chipmunk.
“Ready?” she asked. Then when she got the confirmation, she opened the door and headed for the dark shape that certainly had to be the plow. It better be the plow. They didn't have time to go bumbling around in the dark. Any more than they already had.