by Sharon Dunn
“We’ll be all right,” Elle assured.
Merci couldn’t let go of the anxiety that made her stomach tight. If only there was a way she and Nathan could let them know where the thieves were and if they were still a threat, but once they left the cabin, they would have no means of communicating with these kind people.
After closing the door, they slipped down the stairs and out into the darkness. The guest cabins were about a hundred yards from the main buildings of the ski hill. Nathan stopped for a moment, his gaze darting from one building to the next. “I just thought of something. The trail groomer was kept here because it’s too hard to move out. The garages are over there.” He pointed at a large building set off from the others. “If there was even a little gas left in it, we might be able to make it some of the way down the mountain.”
Hope stirred inside her. “Let’s go see.”
Without any trees to serve as a barrier, the snow in the valley where the cabins were was deep. The snow covered her legs up to her knees as she put one foot in front of the other. The air was crisp and bitterly cold. She was out of breath as they neared the equipment garage.
“The front of the building is this way.” Nathan led her around a large metal structure. Now she could see the chairlift and the log buildings that must house the ski rental and lodge.
The equipment garage had two huge doors. Nathan moved toward the smaller one. “I don’t know if this is locked or not.” His hand reached for the knob.
A screeching noise caused him to take a step back. One of the garage doors eased upward, creating a cacophony of metal scraping against metal. The rattling door sent shockwaves of fear through Merci. Nathan grabbed Merci and pulled her around the corner. Bright headlights cut through the darkness. The thieves had beaten them to the trail groomer!
He pulled her toward one of the large log cabins. A shot went off behind them. They dove to the ground and crawled through the snow toward a small wooden shed with a window. Nathan pushed her into the tiny building.
Merci pressed her back against the wall while her heart pounded against her rib cage. “Where did the shot come from?”
“Too high up to be from the garage area,” Nathan said. “One of them must be posted somewhere. Maybe on the chairlift.”
She gasped in air. “He must have seen where we went.”
“You do have a good view of everything from there, but it’s still pretty dark. I say we make a run for it,” Nathan said.
Refusing to give in to the impending terror, Merci nodded.
They pushed back through the door and hurried around to the side that was opposite the chairlift. They scrambled up the stairs to the porch of the huge log building. Nathan tried the door, but it was locked.
“Around the side, there is a window I should be able to get open,” Nathan said.
Merci’s heart raced as they ran around to the side of the lodge. Their feet pounded on the porch planks, an auditory beacon to their location. Merci hoped it was just her fear that made the footsteps sound so loud.
Nathan grabbed a log from the dwindled pile on the porch and kneeled down beside a window that must lead into the lower floor of the lodge. He shattered the window with a single blow and reached in, twisted
the latch and pushed it open.
“You first.” He glanced side to side as Merci crawled forward and slid through the window face-first, careful to avoid the broken glass. Her hand landed on carpet. She pulled her legs free of the windowsill and rose to her feet. Nathan slipped in headfirst and pulled himself to his feet in one swift movement.
He cupped his hand over her elbow. “This way, hurry. If there are any skis, they’d be in the equipment rental room.”
He led her upstairs past a room with a large fireplace and tables that must have functioned as a cafeteria.
“This way,” he said.
He pulled her into a carpeted room with lockers and benches. Nathan ran toward a door at the back of the room.
When she followed him into the room and looked around, she felt as if she had stepped into Christmas morning. All three walls were lined with every size and brand of skis. The boxes below the racks held ski boots. “It doesn’t look like they got rid of any of the rentals.”
“Not a huge danger of theft. Dad probably thought it was just easier to leave stuff here. I really think he thought he’d only close down for a season.” Nathan reached for a pair of skis and handed them over to her. “These should work for you. What shoe size are you?”
“Eight,” she said.
He dropped to his knees and pulled out a pair of boots. “You have skied before?”
“My father used to take my mom and me to Switzerland every winter.”
A thumping sound from the basement below indicated that one of the thieves had come in the same way they had.
While Nathan got his own skis, she found a bench and sat down. As she slipped off her boots and put them in the backpack Elle had given her, a sense of urgency overtook her. It was only a matter of time before the thief who had shot at them figured out where they had gone. The head start they had on him because he had to jump down from the chairlift had bought them precious minutes, but would it be enough?
Nathan came and sat down beside her, yanking off his boots and buckling into the bulky ski boot.
Footsteps pounded on the floor above them. Merci lifted her eyes. “He went the wrong way. What’s up there, anyway?”
“Administrative offices and storage. He’ll be back down this way.” He rose to his feet. “You ready? Let’s go.”
As they rushed through the eating area of the lodge, Nathan glanced out the back window toward the rental cabins. He stopped and let go of her hand. “Oh, no, I think we have a problem.”
THIRTEEN
Tension snaked around Nathan’s torso. He rushed toward the window to make sure he was seeing correctly. Just enough moonlight spread across the open field to reveal Henry and Elle’s terrier scampering through the snow. He must have bolted away when Henry let him out to go to the bathroom. Given the level of danger, it seemed odd that Henry would take the dog out. The dog was a dark lump moving across the white snow.
Merci came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “The thieves will know that somebody is here if they see that dog.”
Nathan ran toward the stairs and shouted over his shoulder. “We have to get to him before he’s spotted.”
His ski boots clunked down the stairs. He prayed that the noise was not loud enough to alert the thief who was stalking through the building looking for them. He pushed open the back door. Merci followed him.
He scanned the area in front of them, hoping that Henry hadn’t been foolish enough to come after the dog and make himself known. The cabin Henry and Elle occupied was still dark. As the dog made a beeline for them, he saw that he dragged his leash behind him. Henry had taken precautions in not letting the dog run wild, but he must have broken free of the older man’s grasp.
They leaned their skis against the building and raced toward the animal. The clunkiness of the ski boots hindered their process, but Leo ran toward them, bounding up and down through the snow like a dolphin on the waves, oblivious to the level of danger he was putting his master in.
His heart racing, Nathan glanced back at the window of the lodge, half expecting to see one of the thieves leveling his gun at him. The windows were black. When he looked toward the garage, the large door was still open but no headlights shone there anymore.
Leo came within twenty feet of them and sat back on his haunches. Nathan eased toward the dog praying that he wouldn’t start barking. That would alert the thief for sure.
“Come on now, Leo, you know us,” Merci coaxed. She eased toward him saying his name over and over.
The little dog hopped from side to side. While the terrier’s attention was on Merci, Nathan took a wide circle around the dog and then moved in. Nathan slipped off one of his gloves. He dove for the leash just as the dog darted away
from Merci. His hand wrapped around the canvas strap. Leo protested by running three feet one way and then three feet the other.
“Got you, you little rascal.”
“I’ll get the skis and meet you partway while you take the dog back to Henry.” Merci’s gaze darted around the dark landscape from the window of the lodge to the open area by the ski lift. She was thinking the same thing—that someone might be watching them.
“I need to throw them off from the cabin.” He gathered the dog into his arms. Elle and Henry didn’t deserve to have their lives in danger for having been kind to them. If they were being watched, weaving through the buildings rather than going across the open field to the cabin would not give away their location. The back door of the cabin was not visible from the lodge or the equipment garage.
The dog wiggled in his arms as he slipped behind the first cabin. Nathan couldn’t see Merci, and that concerned him. He walked faster.
Noises from the other side of the cabin alerted him. Footsteps. He pressed against the cabin. The dog yipped and squirmed. Nathan clamped a hand around the dog’s snout. Had the thieves already found Elle and Henry and that was why Leo was running loose?
His heartbeat drummed in his ears as he pulled the squirming animal closer to his chest. The crunch of footsteps in the snow was distinctive in the nighttime quiet. His thoughts turned to Merci and her safety. Had it been a mistake to split up? The decision saved precious minutes, but at what cost?
He couldn’t discern where the footsteps were coming from.
Even with his jaw clamped shut, Leo emitted a low guttural growl. Nathan pressed even harder against the wall of the cabin, willing himself to be invisible. The footsteps grew louder…and then stopped.
The sound of his own inhaling and exhaling seemed to surround him as he held as still as a statue. Seconds ticked by.
He heard a single footstep. He sucked in a breath and counted to five.
Henry was suddenly in front of him. A wide grin spread across his face, but he spoke in a whisper, “I saw you out in the field.”
Nathan let out the breath he’d been holding. He handed the squirming dog over to Henry.
Henry leaned close to Nathan and whispered. “Leo was barking and making so much noise inside the cabin, the only way to quiet him was to take him out and let him do his business. I would’ve just come out in the open, but one of them is creeping around these cabins. It looked as if he had an orange coat on. He’s after you. I don’t think he saw Leo or me.”
Tension knotted at the back of Nathan’s neck. None of this was good. “Be careful getting back to the cabin. Do you want me to go with you?”
“You need to get out of here. We’ll be all right. We’ll keep the doors locked and do our best to keep Leo quiet.”
“If they try to break into the cabin, get out the back way as fast as you can and find a good hiding place.” Nathan wasn’t sure if even that would work. Henry and Elle were no match for the thieves physically.
Henry held tight to the squirming terrier. “We can do that.”
“Leave most of the food behind, maybe that will be enough for them to leave you alone.” The chances that the older couple would be able to slip out of the cabin unseen were slim at best.
“Take care. And don’t worry about us. We’ll be home soon enough.” Henry turned and slipped around the corner of the cabin.
Nathan prayed for the older man’s safety as he raced back toward Merci. He remained on the perimeter of the area using the buildings for cover when he could. When he stepped out from behind the last cabin, Merci made her way toward him. She’d already snapped into her own skis. She handed him his poles and tossed his skis on the ground.
“Are they okay?”
“For now,” he said.
“Maybe the thieves will leave Elle and Henry alone. It’s us Hawthorne is after, so we can lead them away from the cabin.”
Hawthorne’s threat to kill them both before they got off the mountain still weighed heavily on his mind. “Let’s get moving. We should have some daylight in just a little bit here.”
The few hours sleep they had gotten in Henry’s cabin had made a big difference. They skied toward the front part of the resort. The skis made a light swishing noise as they pushed out into the open. The chairlift came into view. Nathan was grateful that the skis stayed on the surface of the hard pack snow. They’d encounter deep powder soon enough. At least it looked as if the other side of the mountain had gotten most of the snow.
“There are only two runs on this hill.” He pointed down the mountain. “This one is the longer run. We might be able to ski a little beyond the runs, as well. From there, we should be able to get to the road.”
Merci craned her neck. “What’s that noise?”
Before Nathan could even register what Merci as talking about, a guttural clanging filled the air right before they saw the headlights of the trail groomer come into view. The yellow lights glowed like monster eyes. Two figures sat in the cab. The machine lurched forward as the metal tracks bit through the snow. They were directly in the path of the groomer.
“We can stay ahead of it.” Nathan dug his poles in and pushed off. “Let’s go.”
Merci’s skis sliced through the snow behind him. The snow grew deeper and fluffier, creating a white powder cloud around them as they zigzagged down the mountain. The air smelled of diesel fuel. The mechanical groan of the groomer making its way down the mountain pressed on his ears. They could outmaneuver the big machine, but he wasn’t so sure they could outrun it, not in these kinds of conditions.
They came to a smooth part of the run that was exposed so most of the new fallen snow had blown off. Nathan gasped in air as he tucked in and leaned forward. When he glanced over his shoulder, Merci was doing the same.
The groomer was about thirty yards behind them. Merci’s ski hit a snag or rock. He heard her scream right before she somersaulted. Both skis broke free of the boots. The groomer loomed toward them. Merci sat up looking a bit dazed.
He worked his way uphill toward her. “You okay?”
She nodded as she pushed herself to her feet. Nathan skied uphill, stepping sideways to retrieve the lost ski. Merci grabbed the other one. The groomer was ten yards from him and was showing no sign of turning to avoid him. Skiing wasn’t going to work. Nathan dropped the ski, turned and pushed down the mountain.
“Toward the trees. The groomer can’t go there.” He clicked out of his own skis. They pushed toward the forest with the clanging engine noise of the groomer consuming all other sound.
Moving in the ski boots was slow going. The plow on the front of the groomer lifted in the air, screeching like a dying bird. They were a good twenty yards from the trees. The plow slammed down only a few feet from them, stirring up a dust cloud of snow. Merci screamed.
Nathan grabbed Merci’s hand and pulled her toward the safety of the trees. The groomer surged toward them. The trees were within five yards. The roar of the motor and metal tracks chopping through the snow engulfed them. With adrenaline surging through every cell in his body, Nathan summoned up a final burst of strength and pushed hard toward the edge of the forest.
Once they were beneath the shelter of the trees, it grew even darker. They could hear the groomer being powered down as they moved through the thick forest. Both of them were out of breath. The rougher terrain and the bulky ski boots didn’t allow them to run. They could only take big steps. The physical exertion caused the cut in his pectoral muscle to flare with pain.
“We have to get out of these boots.” Merci gasped for air.
He couldn’t hear the groomer anymore. The people in the cab would come looking for them. He wondered what had happened to the other two thieves. The cab only held two people. Were the two who got left behind already attacking Elle and Henry? Would they search all the cabins looking for food or give up after the first one didn’t yield results?
“We need to find a hiding place.” He didn’t know this forest like he
did the area around the youth camp. “Come on.”
They moved deeper into the forest, stopping to listen for any signs of their pursuers but hearing nothing. The snow wasn’t as deep, but fallen logs hindered their progress. Early-morning sun peaked through the trees, and still they heard no signs of their pursuers.
Merci stopped when she came to a large fallen log. “My feet are killing me. Let’s stop and switch into our regular boots.” She plunked down on the log and pulled her boots out of the backpack Elle had given her. “I don’t think they are going to chase us into here.”
“They didn’t come right after us.” Given Hawthorne’s resolve to see both of them dead, though, it didn’t make sense that they would just give up. While Merci clicked out of her ski boots, Nathan patrolled a circle around her looking for any sign of their pursuers.
“Boy, my feet are freezing.” She pulled one of her boots out of the backpack.
Nathan studied the pathway through the forest where they had just come from. No sign of movement, no noise, nothing.
He quickly stepped into his boots while Merci continued to lace hers up.
Merci’s scream caused him to stand up and spin around. The man in the orange coat stood holding a gun. Merci scooted back on the log. One of her feet was still exposed.
The man in the orange coat offered them a toothy grin. “When the helicopter flew over this area, we saw how small this forest was. It was nothing to circle around and find you in here.” He raised the gun so it pointed at Nathan’s chest. “Surprise.”
Nathan held up his hands as he edged toward Merci. Terror was etched across her face. Why hadn’t he been paying more attention? “Now hold on. I think we can talk about this. Is killing us really the best idea?”
“It’s what the boss wants,” Orange Coat said.
“Do you just do your boss’s bidding no matter what? You pull the trigger, you’ll be the one going to jail.” Nathan’s voice was steady.
