Jenna woke to the heavenly scent of fresh perked coffee and a stiff neck. Her brain felt fuzzy and she was confused over where she was. It all came crashing down on her and she sat upright, looking around.
Yes, she was in a warm house; yes, the twins were there on the couch with her, and yes, they were all covered in thick blankets, and she had a very large fluffy cat sitting on her lap, actually smiling at her. The hazy dream she had been having of still being lost in a snowstorm was only that: a dream, a nightmare. She set her bare feet on the cold floor and quickly retracted them. On the arm of the couch beside her lay three pair of thick socks. Jenna smiled for the first time in what felt like months. She gently pushed the cat to the side and pulled a pair of dark green socks over her chilled feet. She followed the aroma to the small kitchen.
“Good morning,” Parker said cheerfully, handing her a mug of steaming coffee. “There’s sugar and powdered creamer on the table.”
“Parker,” Jenna said, staring into the black brew. “I don’t know what to say except thank you. We would’ve died out there, if not last night then tomorrow night or the next night.” An unbidden tear slipped down her cheek, then another and another. “I’m sorry. I pride myself on being strong. All that has happened has just overwhelmed me and I don’t want the twins to see my weak side.” Turning away, she brushed away the tears.
Parker took the cup from her trembling hands and set it on the table. He put his arms around her and let her cry silently into his chest. He silently wrinkled his nose at the faint odor coming from her.
“Well, none of that’s going to happen, right? The three of you are safe. David and I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you, okay?” He pushed her back gently, and moved her to sit in one of the kitchen chairs.
“Where is David?” Jenna asked, composing herself.
“Probably upstairs sleeping in,” Parker said, chuckling. For some reason, he felt good, really good and light-hearted.
Her brow furrowed.
“His room is upstairs; mine is down here. Though we might have to do some rearranging,” Parker replied to her confused look.
“Oh, I thought maybe … you two …”
Parker shook his head. “No, we are not a couple, Jenna.” Parker poured a cup of coffee for himself and sat across from her. “David actually lives next door. We met over the summer after I moved in here and he has helped me get ready for winter. His father died a few months ago and he didn’t want to live in that big house alone all winter, so I invited him to stay here. We’re friends, good friends, but just friends.”
“Oh.”
“Hey. Girls have girl roommates, why is it so unusual for guys to have a guy roommate?”
“You’re right, I’m sorry for the presumption.”
“If you’re concerned about your safety with us, don’t be. Say, how would you like a hot shower?” he said to change the subject.
“I would kill for a shower!” She groaned at the thought.
“As soon as this water is hot enough, I’ll show you how to work the gravity shower. Meanwhile, finish your coffee and I’ll see what I can find in the way of clean clothes for you.” Parker left her sitting there, stunned. A few minutes later, he returned with a small pile and handed them to her. “I think these sweatpants and T-shirt should do for now.” He took the large pot of water from the stove and led her to the bathroom.
“Only a few gallons of water can make a great shower when it’s not under pressure.” He poured the warm water into the flat pan and showed her the valve. “Soap and shampoo are on the ledge,” he said, leaving a towel next to the clothes.
Jenna opened the valve and let the hot water cascade over her head, soaking her short, matted hair. She shampooed twice, removing all the sweat and grit of the past four weeks. She lathered her body and relished the sensuous feel of the warm water sluicing over her skin.
God, how I have missed being clean, she thought, and sighed as she let the pan of water run empty on top her head.
Ten minutes later, Jenna emerged, toweling her short red hair, and smiling.
“I think that was the best shower I’ve ever had!” She ran her fingers through her hair and sat.
Parker stared. Her hair was a very dark red with streaks of platinum blonde and a natural curliness that emphasized the two tones. The effect set off her green eyes.
“What?” she asked with a lopsided grin.
“You look so young. I thought you were older.” Parker cleared his throat, embarrassed for being so blunt.
She laughed. “I’m thirty. The young punky look is for my undercover work at the university.”
“Undercover? Are you a cop?”
“State Police; I’m the head of the Search and Rescue team when needed, and I also do undercover in the drug enforcement department,” Jenna explained.
“And on the side you do Survival Training?”
“Yep, that’s me.” She shrugged. “And what do you do, Parker?”
“Now I really get to be embarrassed,” he replied, frowning. “I’m a TFB.”
“What’s a TFB?”
“A Trust Fund Baby; my parents were really rich. I don’t need to work. Although living here off-grid is research for a possible book,” he confessed. “Though I didn’t count on being snowed in during a mega storm.”
“Huh, well lucky for us you were here.”
“Jenna!”
“Jenna! Where—”
“—are you?”
“Do they always talk like that, finishing each other’s sentences?” Parker asked.
“Yes, and it takes some getting used to,” she answered, snickering. “I’m in the kitchen!” she called out.
The twins entered the kitchen sheepishly, clutching blankets around their shoulders and Helen carrying Pythagoras. The cat rested his chin on her shoulder and purred.
“Can we have some coffee?” Helen asked, eying the mug in Parker’s hand.
“Are you old enough?” David teased, coming in behind them.
“We’re seventeen!” Lily protested indignantly.
“Hey, calm down, I was joking.” He reached for more mugs after casually petting Thag on the head. “I see you’ve met Pythagoras.”
“Pythagoras? Can he add?” Lily snickered.
“Sure, but he can’t multiply—he’s been fixed.” David grinned at his joke.
Both girls burst into a fit of giggles. “You’re really funny!”
“I’m glad you got my joke, it shows your intelligence.” David turned away, blushing at the attention from the twins. “Which one of you is older?” He quickly redirected the focus back on them.
“Lily is older by two minutes,” Helen said, nodding toward her sister.
“I think we can come up with two more sets of sweats and T-shirts so the twins can have a shower before breakfast.” Parker grinned at David’s discomfort.
“A shower?” the girls said in unison.
While Jenna explained the functioning of the unique shower to the twins, Parker filled more pots of water to heat and remembered what Trudeau said about keeping water heating all the time on the woodstove. He wondered when he would hear from Bob again and hoped Karlie didn’t cause him too much trouble. David set about making a double batch of pancakes.
“Are there more?” Lily asked sheepishly, mopping up the syrup. Her dark hair still glistened from the shower and she finger-combed it out of her eyes.
“Since we haven’t had much food lately Lily, it’s better for you to eat only a little at a time, and four pancakes is enough for now,” Jenna explained.
“And this is as good of a time as any to bring up another matter,” Parker said. “First, I want you three to know you are welcome to stay as long as you want or need to. That be
ing said, when we stocked up for the winter, and that was in a big hurry when we saw this storm on the radar, we stocked … for the two of us, and the cat. With five of us, the supplies won’t last nearly as long, so we will have to start rationing.” When he saw the shocked look on everyone’s face, he added, “Hey, don’t look at me like that! None of us are going to starve; however, we will have to be conservative with the food, and I’m guessing there are lots of ways to stretch it, like making stews or once the snow lets up, with hunting.”
“Girls, Parker is right. Let’s face it, if we get one solid meal a day, it will be more than we’ve been having,” Jenna said, siding with their host.
“The next thing we need to decide on is sleeping arrangements,” Parker brought up the delicate matter. “The upstairs has four bunk beds, so there is space for everyone. Let’s go up and figure out how to rearrange the furniture.” He stood and led everyone up the sturdy staircase with David coming up last, the cat bounding up the stairs beside him.
“As you can see, the layout is similar to downstairs. The chimney separates the two sides.” They walked around the stonework and saw a set of bunks on either side.
“What do you suggest?” Jenna asked hesitantly.
“Since this has basically been my room, I’ll give you my opinion first,” David said. “The beds come apart. If we take down the top bunk on this side and put it over with the other set, you three will be together and we all have some privacy.”
Parker nodded in agreement. “I would suggest hanging sheets or blankets if you really need more privacy, but we don’t actually have many sheets to spare, and you’ll need the blankets for the beds. Plus, this entire area has no heat other than what comes up from downstairs and that needs to circulate.”
“Is that what these floor registers are for?” Helen asked, looking at the dark copper-colored metal grates by the chimney.
“Yes. I don’t think this place was meant for winter living so we will have to make do.” He looked at the three. “We’re open to suggestions, ladies.”
“I think this is a very generous remedy, Parker, David. Thank you,” Jenna spoke before either twin could say anything else.
“Can I ask what this railing is around the chimney?” Lily asked.
“I wondered that too, the first time I saw it.” Parker grinned. “Even though the stonework does radiate some heat, it doesn’t get hot, but building code said to put it in for safety reasons.”
“And it’s a great place to put your clothes at night so they are warmer to put on in the morning,” David added.
“We’ll keep that in mind, but we really don’t have much in the way of clothes,” Jenna reminded them. “And what little we have really needs washing.”
“David, do you think there are any clothes at your house that might fit the girls?” Parker asked.
“I could look. After Mom died, Dad just kind of fell apart and I don’t think he ever cleaned out her closet.” Parker gave him a stern look. “You want me to go now?” he protested.
“We have an unbreakable rule here,” Parker explained. “No one goes anywhere outside by themselves while this snow continues. It’s too dangerous and too easy to get lost. So, David and I will go next door and look for clothes, while you gals wash what you have in the sink. There’s a wooden drying rack behind the stove and the water should be hot enough now. We will be as quick as we can.”
“Would you rather have one of us go with one of you?” Jenna asked.
Parker turned to her. “That’s generous Jenna, I think though, you three have been through enough hard walking and should rest and recover before going out again. We won’t be long.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What the hell?” David stopped as soon as he stepped into his house and saw the mess on the floor. Bits of fur and bone mixed with congealed blood, though weeks old, still made for a dark and unsightly trail.
“Don’t you remember I told you about the wolf?” Parker said. “That happened when I dragged the carcass out. I would have cleaned it up except there’s no water here, David, and I wanted to get the medicine back to you as soon as possible. As soon as things warm up again, I’ll clean it up, I promise.”
“I vaguely remember you saying something about a wolf …”
“You were pretty delirious with fever.” Parker clapped his hand on David’s thin shoulder. “Just don’t freak when you see the bedroom door.”
“What did you do to the door?”
“I shot the wolf through it, David; it was trying to break the door down to get at me!”
They continued down the hall to the master bedroom and stopped.
“Wow, look at those claw marks! No apology needed, Parker; that beast would have killed you!” David stared at the ruined panels.
“Come on, let’s get what we came for and get back.”
They piled T-shirts, lounger and sweatpants, socks, sweatshirts and sweaters on the bed and stuffed it all into pillowcases.
Parker pushed aside clothing in the huge closet looking for more useful items, and then pushed it back when something caught his eye.
“David, did you know this was here?”
The boy peered over his shoulder at the mounted rack at the back of his parent’s closet. “No, I didn’t. Dad was a pacifist; he disapproved of guns.”
Parker picked up the shotgun and laid it on the bed, and did the same with the rifle. The other slots were empty. In a drawer at the bottom, he found one box of ammunition for each weapon.
“We might be able to use these. Is it okay to take them with us?” Parker asked carefully.
“Ah, sure; they won’t do any good sitting in this closet.”
Parker carefully wrapped the weapons in a blanket, while David added a few more items to the bundles.
“Your mom had a lot of clothes,” Parker said casually.
“Yeah, I guess. She did work a lot though and she liked nice things.”
“I think this should be enough for now.” Parker turned to the boy. “Are you going to be okay seeing those strangers wearing your mother’s things?”
“I’m okay, really. She died a couple of years ago. I was a lot younger then. Honestly, I didn’t know my mom real well, and I got to know Dad better only after she passed away. I was a late-in-life baby and they didn’t have much time for me,” David reminisced. “Can I be really honest with you, Parker?”
Parker nodded.
“You’re more of a family to me than they were.”
Parker grinned. “Then come on, bro, let’s go home!”
“It was kind of eerie watching you vanish into the falling snow,” Jenna confessed when they returned. “It was like you walked into another dimension.”
“Felt like it too,” Parker admitted. “We brought a selection of things. If there isn’t enough, we could go back.”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary. The snow can’t last forever and we’ll try to not overstay our welcome.” Jenna scooped up the pillowcases and took everything upstairs where the twins were taking a nap.
Parker laid the rifle and the shotgun out on his bed to check them over. As expected, they were stored unloaded, which was something Parker didn’t understand. His shooting coach at the country club told him that a home-protection weapon should always be loaded and kept in a safe yet handy place. He stressed that someone breaking into your house wasn’t going to wait for you to load a gun. He had said, “A gun is like a parachute: when you need one and don’t have it, you likely will never need it again.”
Parker then got out his gun-cleaning kit and took the guns to the kitchen table where there was more light.
“I’m guessing these have never been fired, David. Did you ever see your dad shoot, even at a target?” Parker asked, wiping the
barrel with a lightly oiled cloth.
“Nope. Like I said I always knew him to be anti-gun.”
“Have you ever fired a gun?”
“Nope, I suppose I should learn how.”
“Yes, you should. Once the snow lightens up, we’ll do a little target practice. Plinking can be fun! Besides, one of us needs to stand guard while the other one hauls in wood, and it wouldn’t be fair to have you do all the heavy work,” Parker teased.
Jenna left the girls to look through the clothes while she sought out Parker.
“So we don’t use up too much of your supplies, I’d like to do some hunting as soon as possible,” she stated.
“When the snow lets up, we’ll discuss it. I’ll confess, Jenna, that while I know guns fairly well, and I’m a good shot, I’ve never hunted.” He took a deep breath before going on. “And I don’t know the first thing about … gutting an animal or how to cut it up.”
“I have a feeling you will be a quick study—hunger can do that,” she said, grinning.
“Whose turn is it to bring in wood?” David asked, picking up one of the last pieces of wood next to the wood stove.
“I think it’s yours,” Helen said with a grin. “I’ll stand watch if you want.”
“Ah, that would be great.” He turned to Parker who was working on the weekly menu. “Have you noticed that we’re going through an awfully lot of wood?”
“I have. I think it’s because it’s been really cold out, and we’re using the fireplace almost as much as the stove for heat,” Parker answered. “And I’m thinking we should use the fireplace less during the day when everyone is down here and the upstairs isn’t being used. If we start the fireplace around three or four o’clock, that would save six hours of wood. And next year, I’ll have Keith bring four loads instead of three.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jenna dug into her pack and brought out the 800 MHz radio. She turned it on and was once again met by only static.
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