Footprints in the Snow

by Cassie Miles

  “Don’t start,” she warned. “All I’m thinking about right now is getting inside that cabin and lighting up a fire in the potbellied stove.”

  The last hike through the trees was steadily uphill but not difficult. Luke shoved open the door to the cabin and pulled her inside. Simultaneously, they dropped their skis on the floor and collapsed across the narrow cot.

  The last time Luke had been here, he’d been looking forward to drinking whiskey until he passed out and forgot all his sorrows. He’d been depressed, emotionally wounded by the war. If death had caught up with him at that moment, he wouldn’t have minded too much.

  Then Shana tumbled into his lonely life. Tromping willy-nilly through all his preconceived ideas, she infuriated him and excited him at the same time. She’d taught him how to laugh. Because of her, he’d found the courage to step forward and be a leader. Because of her, he was a man again.

  “I’m starving,” she said. “I could even eat one of those disgusting K rations.”

  Luke dragged himself off the bed and fetched one of the cardboard boxes of K rations, which he placed on the bed beside her. Then he went to the potbellied stove and laid a fire from the kindling in the wood box. He lit a few of the lanterns.

  If anyone came searching for them, the smoke from the chimney would give away their location. But the alternative was to freeze to death. He latched the cabin door and placed his handgun on the table within easy reach.

  At the table, he picked up the photograph of Roberto. Looking at the picture always made him grin. In only a few days, Luke would return to Italy. “I’m going to find him. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make sure Roberto has a chance at a good life.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Shana announced with a flourish of the candy bar from the K ration box.

  “To Italy? To the front lines of the war?”

  “The alternative is to let you go by yourself. Maybe to never see you again. That’s not going to happen, Luke. I’ll find a way to get overseas.”

  He picked up a thin piece of paper from the table. “What’s this?”

  Shana leaned forward to see what he was holding, then she made a grab for the paper. “It’s nothing.”

  “Looks like a receipt from a hotel.” He turned it over. On the back, she’d scribbled a note. He read aloud. “Thanks for saving my life. Going to town. Goodbye forever, Shana.”

  She groaned. “A little dramatic, huh? But I was mad at you when I wrote that. You abandoned me here.”

  Freely, he admitted, “I was a jerk.”

  He’d been so caught up in his own needs, his own lousy depression, that he didn’t realize the magnitude of the gift she’d given him. Her trust. Her affection. A fantasy.

  As he gazed at her in the soft glow from the lanterns, Luke appreciated her outward beauty. Her thick, shiny, black hair. The sexy shimmer of her eyes. And those lips, those kissable lips. Looking at her made him warmer than the heat that radiated from the potbellied stove.

  Even more, he liked who she was inside—curious and clever and loyal and brainy.

  He flipped over the hotel receipt. “The Leadville Lodgings. Never heard of it.”

  “Probably didn’t exist in 1945,” she said with a shrug. “You’ve got to expect a few changes in the past sixty or so years.”

  Ever since she’d told him that she’d come from the future, she stuck tight to that story. All her other ruses had been brushed aside. The amnesia. The claim that everybody she knew was in Kuwait. Her steadfast adherence to that story almost convinced him that she’d actually traveled through time.

  Glancing down, he read the date confirming her hotel reservation. The year was 2006. “Son of a bitch.”

  Stunned, he stared at the slip of paper. 2006? The next millennium? “This reservation says you’re staying at the Leadville Lodgings for four days, starting on May 6, 2006.”

  “Of course.” As she nibbled at the K ration food substitute, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “That’s when I made the reservation. Haven’t you been listening to me? I told you that I came back in time.”

  “But this is proof.”

  She might have fabricated this receipt. But if she had, why wouldn’t she have mentioned it before? This was the truth, printed in black and white. “You really are from the future.”

  “Not anymore.” She stepped off the bed and into his arms. “This is where I belong.”

  He kissed her hard, needing to assure himself that this miracle was true. She was really here. With him. “So it’s not goodbye forever.”

  “Hello.” She reached up. With her fingertip, she touched the tip of his nose. “Hello forever, Luke.”

  They were meant to be together. Neither time nor distance could keep them apart.

  THE NARROW COT in the cabin was just large enough for them to lie cradled in each other’s arms, but Shana didn’t mind a bit. Being pressed tightly against Luke’s naked body felt like the most comfortable place on the planet.

  She remembered her first night in this small, rustic cabin. That night had been a fantasy. They’d been two strangers thrown together by the storm.

  Tonight was real. Very real. She knew the feel of his hard, muscular chest against her body. She knew the taste of his lips, the scent of his body.

  His intense blue eyes gazed steadily into hers. No longer searching for answers, he accepted her.

  When he eased her onto her back and rose above her, she gladly allowed him to dominate her in every way. His teasing fingers pinched her taut nipples, sending a current of sensation racing through her. His mouth ravaged hers, leaving her gasping. When he penetrated her, the explosion of pleasure lifted her out of herself. She was soaring on another plane of existence. Echoes from this different place called to her. Purposely, she silenced them. She would never leave Luke. Never.

  For long moments, he stayed inside her. Joined. Waiting.

  “This is what I want,” she whispered. “For all eternity.”

  “I want you to be with me forever.” His voice rumbled inside his chest. “Marry me.”

  Without the slightest hesitation, she replied, “Yes.”

  A devilish grin touched the corners of his mouth. With one last kiss, he separated from her and left the bed. In the light from the lanterns, his naked body was magnificent. Absolutely perfect. He picked up his trousers from the floor and rummaged through the pockets.

  “I want to do this right,” he said. “But I don’t have a diamond. This ring will have to do.”

  He returned to the side of the bed and went down on one knee. In his hand, he held a silver ring with the 10th Mountain Division insignia of crossed swords.

  Luke cleared his throat. “Will you be my wife?”

  “I already said yes.”

  “This is more formal. A binding contract that will never be broken.”

  She held his hand with both of hers. “You can ask me a thousand times, and my answer will always be the same.”

  When he slipped the ring on her engagement finger, it was too loose. She moved it to the middle finger. “It almost fits.”

  “For me, it’s a pinkie ring.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him. “I should give you something, too.”

  “Lady, you’ve given me more than you know.”

  She scrambled out from under the covers and found her backpack. Digging around inside, she found the small shard of green trinite. “This,” she said. “Someday, we’ll have it made into a ring.”

  His fingers closed around the stone. “I’ll keep it with me. Always.”

  In spite of the heat generated by the potbellied stove, the interior of the cabin was chilly, and they both slipped under the covers. Lying in each other’s arms, they fell asleep.

  THE NEXT MORNING, she awoke to the scent of coffee and déjà vu. Sunlight slanted through the window. The air held a definite chill. Luke was already up and dressed, feeding wood into the stove. This was almost exactly like the last time she’d awakened in this ca
bin.

  Shana bolted upright on the bed. “You’re not leaving me,” she said firmly.

  Instead of grumbling and charging out the door, Luke came toward her and sat on the edge of the bed. His features relaxed into a companionable smile as he took her hand and kissed her fingers just above his 10th Mountain Division ring.

  The realization struck her. They were engaged!

  “Why are you dressed?” she asked.

  “It’s going to be a busy morning.”

  Somehow, she’d had the impression that they were going to spend most of their time together, hopefully, in bed. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I guess I never explained my plans for Fermi.”

  Worried that he was about to plunge them into trouble again, she pulled her hand away. “You haven’t explained anything.”

  “The weather’s bad,” he said. “A blizzard could hit at any minute. So I don’t expect any aircraft landing at Camp Hale today.”

  She nodded. This much she understood. “And so?”

  “Last night I put in a telephone call to Jack Swenson. He’s going to meet me at Camp Hale early this morning. We’ll load Fermi and his two colleagues into Jack’s station wagon, and he can drive away safely.”

  “That seems unnecessarily complicated. Why should Jack be involved?”

  “Because I trust him,” Luke said. “Anybody at Camp Hale could be a traitor, and I’m sure as hell not going to trust Fermi to someone who might kidnap him.”

  Blinking to clear away the last dregs of sleep, she considered his plan from a couple of different angles. It seemed to make sense. “Are you sure you can trust Jack?”

  “With my life.”

  She tugged on his sleeve and pulled him closer for a warm embrace. Though she would have preferred unbuttoning his shirt and dragging him back into bed, she understood. Fermi’s safety came first.

  “I’ll be dressed in a minute,” she said.

  “No rush.” He twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers before tucking it behind her ear. “I’d rather have you stay where you’ll be safe.”

  After last night’s trek though the snow, a lazy morning in bed sounded wonderful. But her adrenaline was already pumping. Even without caffeine, she was wide-awake, alert to danger.

  An annoying little doubt pushed to the front of her mind. “As long as the Russians stay locked up, I’m not in danger. Not as much as you. Or Henry or Martin for that matter.”

  “Henry and Martin? Why do you think they’re in danger?”

  “Remember, I told you. When the Russian spy came into my room in Aspen, he said you and Henry and Martin needed to be eliminated. That’s why he chased after us on Independence Pass.”

  Luke went to the potbellied stove and removed the coffeepot. He poured her a mug. “That had to be to avenge the murder of the other spy, the one Captain Hughes shot.”

  “Murder?” This was the first she’d heard about a murder. “The captain killed somebody?”

  “There was a fifth Russian. He was sneaking around in the files on the captain’s desk.”

  She vaguely recalled Luke mentioning a hypothetical situation about why someone would want to snoop through the papers on the captain’s desk. “What happened to this spy?”

  “Hughes shot him dead. Then he ordered me and Martin and Henry to stash the body in a storage shed.”

  “To cover up what he’d done.” She took the coffee mug from Luke’s hand and took a gulp. The picture in her mind became clear. “Oh my God. It’s a cover-up.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “In my millennium, we’re a lot more cynical. We know that politicians and top officials sometimes lie, and we sure as hell know about cover-ups.”

  “You’re saying that the captain wanted to hide the murder.” Luke shrugged. “I can believe that.”

  “The only way he could cover up the murder was to eliminate the witnesses. You, Henry and Martin. That’s why the Russians came after us. Because Captain Hughes told them to.”

  “If he was working with them, why shoot one of them?”

  “A falling-out among traitors,” she said darkly. “Captain Hughes is your traitor, Luke. He knew the top secret information about Dr. Fermi’s visit. He hates and resents the army. And Dr. Fermi, too.”

  She set down her coffee, climbed out of bed and began pulling on her clothes. No way would she let Luke walk back into Camp Hale where Hughes was waiting like a black widow spider in the middle of his web.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Shana, no.” He held her shoulders. “This will all go smoothly. Everything is going to be fine. There’s no reason for you to be in danger.”

  “You’re my reason,” she said. “If anything happened to you—”

  “It won’t.”

  Before she could raise a logical objection, he slipped into his parka and opened the door. Outside the cabin, it was icy cold. Snowflakes danced on the wind.

  “Please, Luke. Don’t go.”

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” he promised. “Trust me, Shana. Whether it’s 1945 or sixty years later, we’re meant to be together. You and me? We’ll have our happily ever after.”

  As he closed the door behind himself, she threw on her boots and her parka. An unreasonable sense of panic churned through her causing her fingers to tremble as she grabbed her skis.

  Something terrible was about to happen. She could feel it. Desperately, she wished she could have the same blind faith that Luke had. The trust. The belief that everything would turn out all right.

  When she opened the cabin door, he was already gone. All that was left of him were footprints in the snow.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Trying to catch up to Luke was futile. He was in peak condition, and Shana was only in average shape. Still, she exerted every effort as she followed his footprints. He’d hiked uphill through the trees.

  She remembered enough of her surroundings to guess that he had taken the steep route back to Camp Hale. Gasping, she struggled to pull enough oxygen into her lungs.

  At the edge of the forest, she confronted a wide-open expanse of snow. Dark storm clouds loomed overhead. The wind kicked up whirling gusts of snow. The trail of Luke’s skis across the ridge was fading. He was almost erased.

  She clicked her skis into the bindings and charged into the impending blizzard. Her arms and legs churned as she skied against the wind, straining at the edge of her physical endurance. Finally, she reached the point where she had stood once before—the place where she first saw Camp Hale.

  It was gone! The barracks, the main house, the barns and all the G.I.’s had vanished. She squeezed her eyelids closed.

  SHE LAY IN A HOSPITAL bed, staring up at a cream-colored ceiling. A CD player beside her resonated with classical music. The view from the windows was a pristine mountain on a clear day.

  This was all wrong. All wrong.

  She had to get away from here. Back to Luke. He needed her.

  She struggled under the thin blanket that covered her. But her arms and legs wouldn’t move. She was paralyzed. Helpless.

  HER EYES OPENED, and she saw the army camp. It was there. Real. At the base of this rugged slope, a couple of hundred yards away, she saw Luke at the edge of the road. He was talking to someone who stood beside an old station wagon. Jack Swenson?

  “Luke!” She screamed his name, but the wind swallowed her words.

  Her skis aimed downhill, and she moved as quickly as possible. The worst thing that could happen now would be if she fell. Her skis skidded across a patch of ice, but she managed to stay on her feet.

  Pausing to catch her breath, she saw others joining Luke beside the car. It was Dr. Fermi and the other two scientists.

  Maybe Luke was right. Maybe Dr. Fermi’s escape would take place without a hitch. She prayed that was true, prayed that her race against time was unnecessary.

  She was only twenty yar
ds away when she saw the station wagon pull away. Dr. Fermi was safely on his way back to New Mexico where he could complete his research. History remained intact.

  Luke spotted her. When he waved, the snow swirled around him. In moments, the full force of the blizzard would hit.

  Then she saw the threat. Two men emerged from the buildings of Camp Hale. Both were dressed in the all-white ski uniform with the hoods of their parkas pulled up, but she knew who they were. Captain Hughes and the Russian.

  “Luke,” she called out to him. “Behind you.”

  He turned. In a well-practiced motion, he slung his Garand rifle over his shoulder, dropped to one knee and took aim.

  One of the men approaching did the same.

  Luke fired first. The blast echoed against the slopes. The man with the rifle went down.

  The other held a handgun. His arm thrust out straight in front of him. He got off two shots before Luke took him down.

  Both of the skiers who tried to attack Luke were on the ground. The red of their blood contrasted with the blanket of snow.

  Relief overwhelmed her. The threat was gone, and Luke was safe. She’d been worried for no reason. They had their whole future ahead of them. They’d be married and live happily ever after.

  Luke lowered his arms. The rifle fell from his gloved hands. When he rose to his feet, he staggered. His knees gave out and he crumpled to the ground.

  Frantically, she skied toward him. When she reached his body, she kicked off her skis and knelt beside him, cradling his upper body against her breasts. There was blood on his white parka. It seemed to come mostly from his left arm.

  His shimmering blue eyes gazed up at her. “You were right,” he said. “That was Captain Hughes and the Russian. Hughes must have released that bastard from the guardhouse.”

  She didn’t give a damn about being right. “Stay with me. You’re going to be all right.”