Beyond the New Horizon

by Christine Conaway

  “I think we should push on through to the mine and with any luck, it’ll snow tonight and hide our tracks.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Journey agreed and looked behind them. The road was torn up with the marks the dragging poles had made. “It will take a whole bunch of snow to cover those tracks.”

  “The people may not even come out as far as this road. If they are anything like us, they will be digging in. At least snow would disguise them somewhat,” Lucy offered.

  “Okay, let’s go and try to be as quiet as possible. No sense announcing ourselves. They may think we went a different way or something.”

  “Yeah, right! The only different way we could go would be back the way we came.”

  Gina shook her head. Journey was being difficult, but then she thought that maybe she was acting no differently. She had been short with both Lucy and Journey, and she was usually the mellow one. But, she had to admit she had never been put in this sort of position before and maybe none of them were acting normal. Gina knew she was hungrier, colder and as tired as she could ever remember being.

  She could only hope, the mine was the answer. They hadn’t explored it at all. What would or could they do if it only went in a few feet and stopped? There would be no way to use the cabin now, even if it was a last resort. The other cabin had no roof to speak off and would offer little shelter from the elements, and they would not survive with only the tent for protection.

  As she passed the end of the road; it was more of an overgrown trail; that led to the cabin or the area they had seen the smoke coming from, Gina studied the ground. She saw no trace of people’s feet or horse prints of any kind. The road had a water bar running down one track with water still in it.

  While they were getting snow in the higher elevations, it had to have been raining here. That could explain the lack of evidence. Had they not seen the smoke or heard the other horses, her group would have been oblivious to having neighbors.

  Gina wasn’t sure if she felt better knowing about them or if it would have been better to be ignorant.

  She kept putting one foot in front of the other. Just when Gina thought they wouldn’t make it before complete darkness, she rounded a turn in the road, she saw the side road. It was hardly more than a trail with bare branches hanging out from both sides of the path.

  Without the leaves it hardly resembled the place they had stopped, to explore and admire the gold, red, and yellow foliage. In a few short weeks, the leaves had dropped, leaving the area, bare and dismal. The gate barring entrance to the cave was still in place, which was a good thing.

  The apron of gravel and dirt if front of the cave wasn’t as big of an area as she had remembered, maybe only a quarter of an acre in size, but there were no indications, by either fresh tracks or other evidence, that anyone else had been there.

  “This will have to do,” Gina said and led Sailor to the edge of the clearing. Gina rested her head against Sailor’s neck and remained standing like that, until he turned his head and nuzzled her, reminding her she had obligations to fulfill. Reminding her, there was too much to do to even consider resting, not even for a minute.

  They worked well as a team, and it didn’t take long to get the horses unloaded, and tied to a rope strung between two trees. Journey carried their feed buckets over, and Abby gave them each a big scoop of the complete feed.

  Gina went to help Lucy clear out a spot in the brush for their tent. When they had cleared as much of the brush, broken limbs and any rocks poking through the dirt, Lucy decided she was going to build a fire and get them some dinner. The daylight was almost completely gone, and without a fire, they wouldn’t have any light to see by. Gina gathered up the branches and pieces of wood they’d removed from their sleeping area and carried them where Lucy pointed and dropped them in a pile.

  “I’m going to put the tent up, unless you need any help?”

  Ben, left to his own devices decided to explore the cave. He found the ax and was headed toward the entrance when Lucy hollered at him. He went back to where she was, so she wouldn’t have to holler again.

  “Ben, can you find me a pitch-pine knot? I’ll get this fire started and fix something to eat.”

  Ben turned to walk away to do her bidding when he realized he had no idea what it was that she wanted. “What the hell is that?”

  Lucy turned, grimaced and grabbed her knee. “Owww!”

  Ben reached out to steady her when he thought she was going to collapse, but she pulled away. He saw the tears in her eyes and the way her face drained of all color.

  “When will you get it through your head I’m only trying to help you? There’s nothing wrong with needing help once in a while.”

  “I don’t need help. I just need you to go away and let me do this, just get me the wood please….. and thank you very much!”

  Ben raised his eyebrows in disbelief, sighed heavily, turned and stomped off. He didn’t understand what Lucy’s problem was and her attitude had only gotten worse the last few days. The only person she hadn’t been short tempered with was Abby. Ben understood the past few days had been hard on all of them, but Lucy was the only one who seemed to not improve after a night’s sleep.

  Ben, walking with his head down had almost walked right into Gina and Journey. Gina put her hand up to stop him from running Journey down.

  “What’s a pine-knot…or a pine-pitch knot or something like that?”

  Journey looked from him to Gina and laughed out, “A what?”

  Gina laughed and said, “You mean a pitch-pine knot?”

  He brightened, “Yes! What exactly is it?”

  Gina sighed and shook her head, “And you planned on surviving alone in the woods?”

  Ben’s face flushed with color, not only from them laughing at him but for not knowing. He had no idea what they were even talking about.

  “Come here, and I’ll show you.” Gina led him into the trees. She stood for several minutes looking around. Finally, she walked over to a pine tree and looked up. Finally, satisfied Gina pointed, “See how that limb looks damaged, and you can see where the pitch has run down it and the tree trunk?”

  He could see what she was talking about and had seen the stuff before when camping, and had always avoided handling it because it was next to impossible to get the sticky residue off of your skin. He just hadn’t known that it had a legitimate name.

  “I guess now I have to figure out how to get that branch down here. Lucy wants some for her fire, and I’d like it to make a torch out of.”

  “What do you need a torch for?”

  He looked at her and frowned. Why would they sleep in the tent one more night when they had a perfectly good dry cave to sleep in, and that required investigation.

  “Aren’t we going to sleep in the cave? I for one would like to see where I’m sleeping before I start spreading out my sleeping bag?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. At least not for tonight. Let’s wait and check it out in the daytime. I for one, don’t want to find out we have roommates after the fact.”

  Ben laughed, his baritone chuckle made Gina want to join in, but she saw that he still didn't understand the danger of wild animals. It would be impossible for a bear to have moved in because of the gate, but there were other creatures much smaller that could be every bit as dangerous.

  “Do you know that the Western Rattlesnake makes its home in Idaho and loves to crawl around in rocks and hides in dark places. I for one, don’t want to roll over and land on one of them while I’m asleep.”

  Ben paled, his eyes opened wide. Ben hated snakes. Just the thought of snakes of any kind made his heart race and caused sweat to break out on his forehead.

  Ben finally managed to squeak out, “Snakes?” He shivered as if trying to shake the thought off. “In Idaho? I thought snakes liked warm places, not mountains.”

  Gina laughed, “Come on soldier boy, are you afraid of them? Don’t tell me you never caught snakes when you were a kid?”

>   “Never!” he declared. He pursed his lips, staring at Gina, “Did you? Catch snakes, I mean?”

  “I don’t like them anymore than you do. In fact, that’s why I don’t want to wake up with one in my bedroll.”

  He nodded, “It must seem pretty funny to you that a grown man is afraid of them.”

  Gina looked at him and turned to walk back to camp, “Not any funnier than a grown woman being afraid of them too. The only person I know who is not afraid of them is Lucy. She always says that she respects them, and likewise they do her, as long as she gives them a wide berth.”

  “Speaking of Lucy, what’s with her today? In fact, she hasn’t had anything civil to say to me in days. I try my damnedest to be nice to her, and she shuts me down at every turn.”

  “Our Lucy has had some rough times the past few years that she is trying to come to terms with. Like I told you before, it’s her story. When she’s ready, I’m sure she’ll tell you. Until then my lips are sealed,” and she used two fingers to mimic zipping her lips.

  Gina turned to face him, “Tell you what, give it a couple of days for us to settle into our new winter home and I’ll see about reviving something we used to do.”

  “What’s that, this revival thing?”

  “Not a revival really, but sometimes we’d sit around the fire and tell each other one thing we have never told another soul, or something personal like that.”

  Ben looked at the darkening sky, “If those clouds are packing more than rain, there won’t be any sitting around a nice campfire anytime soon.”

  “Well, it seems as if the girls already have a fire going and appear to be getting us some food, what do you say to you and I setting up the tent and getting it ready to sleep in? Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  Ben and Gina had just rolled out the last sleeping bag when Abby came running over to them. They had set the tent under the trees on the only fairly level spot they’d found.

  “Daddy, Gina, Lucy says to come and eat before she throws it to the wolves.”

  Grinning from behind her hand, she whispered, “But she really told me there are no wolves up here.”

  “Great, now she has my daughter lying to me,” he muttered and stomped back to the fire.

  Gina sure wished that Lucy would hurry up and tell him about her leg. She was impossible to live with, and Gina knew it was because she didn’t want to deal with the pity she thought people felt when they heard of her injury.

  Journey was really the only person that Lucy trusted to help her even though, Gina knew as much about it as Journey did. Gina didn’t understand Lucy’s thoughts behind it, but then she wasn’t the one missing a limb.

  Gina went to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and realized how awful it felt. The wisps that had escaped her braid were dirty and hung in strings around her face. She tried to remember when she had washed it last. It had been the two or maybe three nights before they had reached the truck. They had stopped at the creek and heated water to bath in. Journey had even braved the ice cold water for a quick rinse.

  Gina remembered Lucy saying how bad they all had smelled when they’d reached the truck, and they had not had a real bath since then. With the snow and frigid air, they had washed their hands and faces and little else.

  Not wanting to upset Lucy more than she already was, Gina followed Ben to the fire. Lucy may have been trying to make amends for her bad behavior, or was happier now they were finally stopped, but she had gone all out for their dinner. Considering their meal had come out of a three-pound can and mylar packages, it looked and smelled great.

  Once Abby had asked what it was, and Lucy had told her, they all laughed and sat and enjoyed the meal.

  “That was the best beef stroganoff, I’ve had in years.”

  “Daddy, Lucy said it was chicken,” Abby squealed.

  “Abby, not so loud. When it’s this cold and quiet, sounds carry a long way.”

  Abby cringed because she had apparently forgotten about the people at the cabin. Lucy had stressed to her earlier that day, the need for silence, until they had checked out the area around the cave and that had been before they knew about the people who were sharing the valley.

  Now, more than ever they needed to remain silent until they knew who their neighbors were and what their intentions were. It would be a long, dangerous winter if they proved to be hostile or the same type of people that Ben and Abby had left behind.

  Abby finished her dinner, and after kissing each of them goodnight, she went and climbed into her sleeping bag. Her cheeks were flushed again, and her cough had returned.

  “Abby never gets sick. I’m beginning to get worried.”

  “Without having a doctor to go to, it could be a concern. We’ll keep a close eye on her. We need to get moved into the cave and out of the elements.”

  The fire had burned down to red hot coals, illuminating their faces, and providing a constant source of heat, but only to their front side.

  A shiver crawled up Gina’s spine, “Do you guys realize we may be screwing up? We’re sitting like we don’t have a care in the world, we have effectively destroyed our night vision and someone could be hiding in the trees watching us.”

  “Do you mean the people from the cabin?”

  “Journey, please say you don’t believe they’re the only people besides us who know about this area? If I lived anywhere around here, heading into the hills would be my first choice.”

  Journey’s cheeks grew red, her jaw clenched and her lips thinned out. Turning her head slowly, she looked at Gina, her eyes barely slits in her face.

  “Uh Oh,” Lucy muttered, as if she didn’t want anyone to hear, but knew everyone, including Journey, would hear, “We know that look.”

  Journey held her tight facial expressions for a few second’s and then burst into laughter, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. She looked at Lucy, “Am I really that predictable? You know my moods by my freaking expressions?”

  “Shhh!” the three of them hissed at her.

  “Please keep your voice down. The people in the next county probably know we’re here after that little outburst. All day you have heard Lucy preaching to Abby about keeping her voice down, now you need to be reminded?”

  Journey didn’t lose her temper very often, and Lucy could usually talk her down with humor, but like the rest of them, these weren’t normal conditions and the tension the past week had increased daily. They were all feeling the pressures this strange situation had brought to them.

  “But Lucy’s right. You wear everything on your face. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to make you feel stupid. Of course, anyone who ever came up here might remember how secluded this area is and remember either the cabins or this cave. Hunters, hikers, four-wheelers, the list, goes on and on. My point is, we need to put together a defendable fortress.”

  Both Lucy and Journey wore the same shocked expression of disbelief. Lucy was the first to close her open mouth. “A defendable fortress? What the hell is that?”

  Journey’s posture changed after listening to Gina. She sighed, and her whole body relaxed. She stared into the coals. “I’m never going to get my brain around the idea that we have to defend ourselves against other people.”

  “If I can add my two cents in here?” Ben seemed to be asking permission to speak rather than jumping right into their conversation.

  He waited until all three girls looked at him. He took their silence to mean it was okay to speak. “The thought of having to hide or defend ourselves on American soil is repugnant to me, but Gina is right.” He looked specifically at Lucy, “You and I both know what happens when there is no governing body. No one in charge so to speak. I don’t know where you were stationed, but I suspect it may have been some of the same places that I was. I’ve seen what people are capable of, and so have you. That lot down below is no different than any of those people we fought against in Afghanistan or Iraq. They will kill for no good reason or just to get whatever they want. They will take s
laves, steal or do whatever it takes to be the dominant faction.”

  “Why were you with them then? If I remember correctly, you had a gun pointed right at us.”

  “And I also told you to turn around and leave. I was already planning our escape and didn’t want you guys to mess it up for me. When I joined them, it wasn’t by choice, it was out of necessity at the time. The first time I heard them drinking and talking, I knew they weren’t my kind of people. The thought of them finding out that Abby was a girl, made my blood run cold.” Ben drew in a deep breath and continued, “Up until then, if it had been only me there, I would have stuck around to see what kind of monkey wrenches I could have thrown in their plans. But, having a daughter to think about, changes everything you believe in. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep Abby safe, and if it means using deadly force…I will.”

  “This whole thing…seems so unbelievable. And, are we any better than those who perpetrate barbaric behavior, if we use deadly force? Doesn’t that make us just as bad as them?”

  “Aw Journey, I think there are some who have always been just one degree away from impropriety. With the lack of civil restraint, it can only get worse.”

  “Maybe there is some truth to the statement that only the strong will survive,” Gina answered, and yawned.

  “I think good people, or rather people with good intentions, will survive too. They may have to change their ways of thinking and reconsider by what means they use for their survival. Just because they are decent, doesn’t mean they won’t defend themselves.”

  “But, that won’t make them…or us, any different than the people we are trying to stay away from. How do they or we, justify killing another human being?”

  Lucy shook her head, clearly fed up with Journey’s attitude. “So, does that mean when some thug grabs you because he wants you to be his bitch, we’re supposed to just let him do it? Or do we sit him down and have a little talk with him about the error of his ways? You can’t have it both ways, Journey. We either fight to get you back or we let him or whoever it is, keep you.”