noon
`` Nothing is in the way ! '' Joan replied , `` and I 'll help you dig us out . '' It was just daylight when they started . It was past noon when , stiff and rather shaken , Joan scrambled out of the old car and , followed by Cuff , noiselessly made her way over the lawn to Ridge House . She went lightly up the steps , then stood still . Doris Fletcher lay sleeping in the full , warm glow . So quiet was she , so pale and delicate , that for a moment Joan knew a fear that had had its beginning when Patricia passed from life .