by James, Ava
"Hey, Don, looks like those assholes in Applewood did that controlled burn yesterday and did a piss-poor job of putting it out." Colton Rogers was second in command behind Donovan. He spent much of the off season studying wildfire mitigation.
"Alright," Don replied. "Let's just keep a close eye on it this morning. Zak, keep a close eye on the weather, especially the wind direction. I can't believe those idiots are this incompetent. Record high yesterday and probably today. I can't think of a worse time for a controlled burn." Don read over the report and the accompanying weather forecast. Winds could carry embers from the burn onto the backside of Scarlett Mountain and quickly get out of control. Spring precipitation on the mountain had been about half of average so there was a lot of dry brush – plenty of fuel for an inferno.
"Jake and Axton, why don't you guys go up in the helicopter here in a few to take a look at the area. We need to stay ahead of any hot spots. It's dry as hell on that side of the mountain, so we need to be proactive." Donovan tried to stay calm about it, but all he wanted to do was find the guy who'd authorized the controlled burn and punch him in the throat.
"Cool, Don, will do," Jake said as he grabbed his coffee mug and headed to the helipad. Donovan had had the helipad put in a few years ago during a brutal fire season. Drought had gripped much of the region that summer and you could almost set your watch by the wildfires. Some fire seasons were worse than others and that year was one of the worst that Don and his brothers could remember. It was even worse than the wildfire season of nearly twenty years ago, the one which had claimed the lives of their parents.
The guys finished their coffee and discussed the options and possible weather conditions. None of them would take a "wait and see" attitude when it came to their town and any potential danger. Donovan finished handing out assignments to his brothers and stayed behind at the ready for local emergencies.
Isabelle felt like she was high. After leaving the bakery, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. An absolutely gorgeous man had approached her and asked her out on a date. He didn't turn and run when she nearly jumped his ass. Jumping his ass was pretty much all she could think about after watching him walk out of the bakery. She felt dumb having turned him down for dinner. He seemed harmless, but it was so hard to know who to trust these days. Isabelle was never one to risk her safety, no matter how wet her panties got.
Jen, the desk clerk, had let her charge her phone with a charger from the lost and found. She'd expected to have a full battery when she came back from breakfast, but it was just past forty-five percent full.
"Screw it. I'm not going to be gone that long, and I don't plan on playing any battery-sucking games." Isabelle rolled her eyes at her phone and the semi-useless charger. She lathered on some sun screen, put her room key and a five-dollar bill in her pocket so she could buy a water bottle, and headed out. The view from the top of Scarlett Mountain was what she craved. The hike up the mountain wasn't too long from what she remembered, but this would be the first time she'd made the trek alone. Water bottle in hand, and an extra for later in her pocket, she took a deep breath and began her climb to the summit. The crisp morning air chilled her bare arms, but she knew she would be hot in no time and didn't want to deal with having to carry a jacket.
Laylah, the hotel manager, required Isabelle to sign a hiker's agreement that let the hotel know how long she intended to be gone on her hike. They also had her cell phone number in case of an emergency. Isabelle had only half listened while Laylah went over the form and told her that she expected to return around two o'clock.
Isabelle steadied her breathing as she walked and was careful not to overexert herself. She'd avoided the gym more than she went over the winter, but she still figured she had the stamina to make the climb. The grass on the trail was just starting to green up and random flowers had begun to bloom. Early springtime on Scarlett Mountain was magical. It was like watching a spell being cast and seeing the earth wake up from a deep slumber. The smell of moss was intoxicating and brought back childhood memories of walking to school past the creek by her house. Deep in thought, Isabelle jumped as her phone alerted her to a text message. The noise came out of nowhere and zapped her back into reality. "Tim? Really? Asshole. Like I'm gonna text you back!" Isabelle shoved her phone back into her pocket and continued her climb. She came around a bend and stopped to look at a tree that had been split in half by a lighting strike. She walked over to touch the damaged trunk of the aspen tree. Although she tried to fight it, her thoughts kept coming back to her encounter at the bakery. It wasn't until after he'd left that she had realized that they hadn't told each other their names. Maybe that was for the best. They could have coffee and she could convince him to come back to her room and pound her pussy from behind. No names, no numbers, just some dirty fun with a smokin' hot fireman. The smile she'd fought all day was back, and at least she was alone with nobody around to witness her lunacy. As naughty and delightful as a round or two of mindless sex sounded, it wasn't Isabelle's style. She couldn't help but wonder why finding a soulmate to have mind-blowing sex with was such a tall order.
As she headed back up the trail, Isabelle's phone chirped again. "I swear, Tim, if this is you again..." She dug her phone out of her pocket and looked down at another text from Tim demanding to know where she was. "Fuck you," she said as she typed her reply. "Leave me alone, you cheating asshole!" Isabelle hit send and deleted him from her phone. "Crap, fifteen percent battery left. Damnit." Paying more attention to her phone than the hiking trial, Isabelle stepped on a rock and turned her ankle. She couldn't catch her balance and fell onto her side. Her phone slipped out of her hand and the screen cracked into a web of glass shards. The steep slope of the hill pulled her down, and over and over she turned out of control. She was finally able to stop her free fall and came to rest next to the water at the creek. Isabelle caught her breath and looked around. Her whole body ached. Her arms were scratched and her jeans were ripped at her right knee. Warm blood flowed down her leg from her lacerated knee. When she tried to stand back up, her right ankle couldn't take any weight. "Fuck. Ouch. FUCK!" More blood poured from her knee. She sat back down on her butt and fought back tears. Her heart raced as she tried to catch her breath again.
The broken cell phone was back on the trail, way beyond her reach. Isabelle stared at it, trying to will it to her and watched a prism of light bounce off of the shattered glass. "Someone will be along soon," she rationalized. She used the last inch or so of tepid water from the first bottle to wash the dirt and blood off her knee and palms. Bloody water trailed down her leg and the gash on her leg looked worse than it felt, for the moment at least.
As she sat there alone, the reality of her life hit her hard. Wasted years with Tim, watching him suck face with some skank, it was all too much. She wanted to be loved by a man, appreciated, wanted, maybe even adored. Looking out at the view from the side of the mountain, the earth seemed endless, and it consumed her. Alone with just her thoughts, her soul finally made her sit down and listen to what it wanted.
Laylah didn't usually call Donovan's cell phone unless it was an emergency, so when he saw her name appear on the screen, he knew there was a problem.
"Yeah, Laylah?"
"Hey, Donovan. I'm afraid we need some help."
"What's going on?"
"Well, Isabelle Wilson, a guest at the hotel, a young woman here by herself, left this morning for a hike and hasn't come back yet. She signed out just after eight and said she intended to be back no later than two. Closer to one, in fact."
"It's a quarter to six. Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"I'm sorry. Jen said that she thought she saw her come back in, but she didn't sign in so we did a room check and she's not here."
"Which trail was she planning to take?"
"Trail two."
"Alright. Thanks."
Donovan tossed his phone down and ran for his gear. Jake and Axton were gone in the helicopter again and he didn't want to pull th
em back from the fire watch. The guys had been fighting embers all day and it'd been a bitch with the wind coming from the southwest all day. He grabbed his bag and keys and ran to an ATV. It was almost six o'clock and the sun would be gone soon.
"Isabelle Wilson?" In his haste, he'd forgotten to tell his dream woman his name, and didn't know what hers was. "Please don't be Isabelle Wilson."
*******
The sun bore down on her face. Isabelle found herself a semi-shady spot to sit in, but as the sun headed further to the west, its rays burned her flesh. She sat and stared out at the majestic landscape. As beautiful as the view was, she didn't want it to be the last thing that she saw.
The bleeding of her knee had slowed down. Her wound had pretty much clotted, but her leg was rendered useless. Tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her sunburned cheeks. Nobody had come across the trail to see her sitting down near the creek. She wasn't even sure if anyone would see her if they were to walk by. After her fall, she'd barely been able to stop herself from rolling into the water. Her knee and ankle injuries made it impossible for her to crawl back to the top of the trail.
She would have to do something soon; the sun had nearly reached the top of the mountain and would soon fade away. Her clothes would provide little protection from the cold night air. Surely the people at the hotel had realized she wasn't back yet. The faint smoke that she had smelled all day came and went. She could see the smoke rising from the other side of the mountain but had no clue exactly where it was coming from. Surely they wouldn't have let her leave on a hike if there was a risk of fire.
*******
Donovan headed up the trail on his ATV. The guys had the small blaze on Applewood almost under control. The winds were not cooperating and the unusually high temperature today made the fire all but impossible to completely contain and it could easily flare up overnight. He looked down the embankment as he rode up the trail. Isabelle hadn't been seen by anyone since she'd left the hotel for her hike. Several hikers reported going up trail two mid-morning and had not seen her. Donovan shuddered to think what would happen to this young woman if she had to spend the night alone on the mountain. There were mountain lions and other predators she could encounter. If she had fallen and been injured, she could be very difficult to reach.
The sun was already beginning to set and the light would be soon gone. At the peak of the trail, he had yet to see her. "Son of a bitch! Where are you?" Frustrated, Donovan stopped the ATV and climbed off. He retrieved his binoculars and scoured the hillside for any evidence of the missing young woman. The light faded and the hillside twilight glow made it difficult to make out the embankment at the bottom of the hill. There was a creek closer to trail one, but the hikers had all been told to avoid trail one due to the smoke.
His brothers had been able to keep the fire from coming over the mountain despite the high southwesterly winds. The setting sun and lessening evening winds would definitely help them get an advantage overnight. Scanning the grounds for any sign of her was proving fruitless. Donovan headed back to his ATV to grab his phone. Zak and Colton should be headed back from Applewood and could help him.
"Fuck! What the fuck?" Donovan feverishly searched his bag for his phone. "FUCK!" He realized that he's left it on his desk. "Damnit!" Donovan kicked a rock and it rolled down the hill. Donovan hopped back on his ATV and tore ass down the trail back to the firehouse. The tires screeched to a halt and he nearly ran into the wall as he jumped off and ran to his desk. Zak and Colton were on his computer watching a replay of the weather forecast. "Don, she's saying winds will be calm until about midnight and then they're supposed to shift and come from the north tomorrow."
"Great! Fucking great!"
"What's going on?" Colton asked.
"Fucking hiker is missing, and I can't find her. Laylah says she wasn't properly dressed, and she isn't answering her phone. It's probably dead. I hope she's not. Fuck!"
"Alright, take a deep breath, man. You need to calm down so you can think clearly. What trail was she on?"
"Laylah said she was told to go up trail two. They were told to let all the hikers know not to use trail one today because of the smoke."
"And you didn't see any signs of her on trail two? Is it possible that they didn't tell her and she took trail one?"
"I suppose. I don't know what that new desk clerk is doing down there. First she checked her in when she wasn't back, so who knows if they even told her which trail to take. Damnit!"
"It's fucking dark out now. If she's conscious, she's probably scared shitless by now."
"Okay, we're here to help. Seriously, take a deep breath. We'll find her. She's going to be okay."
Donovan grabbed his phone off his desk and frantically dialed. "Laylah, did anyone there tell Isabelle Wilson to take trail two, or did you just assume that's the one she took?"
"Um, Jen said that she told her to take trail two, that she told everyone to take trail two after you put down the order."
"You said that she left first thing this morning. When did she leave on her hike?"
"It says in the log that she left about a quarter till eight."
"Laylah! We put the order out at 9:00 to close trail one."
"I'm sorry. Amber checked the box for trail two on the hiker sign-out sheet."
"Son of a bitch!" Donovan slammed his phone down and covered his face.
"What? Do you think she took trail one?" Zak and Colton exchanged glances. "Dude, I've never seen you so worked up about a missing hiker like this. You need to breathe. We'll find her, okay?" As captain, Donovan always remained cool and collected. This was a side of him that none of his brothers had ever seen.
"Yeah, we better fucking find her quick. Listen, I'm going to head back up there. I'll scour trail one and bring her back. You guys stay here. I've got my phone. I'll call you if I need any help. Just keep an eye on the fucking wind. Head over there immediately if there are any flare-ups."
Donovan headed back out on his ATV. Sweat glistened on his brow and the cool night air felt good pouring over him and cooling his enraged skin. Trying to find her in the dark could be all but impossible. Smoke poured past him as he climbed trail one. Even as a firefighter, he never got used to the way smoke burned his eyes and throat. As he reached the midway point of the trail, his ATV began to sputter.
"Fuck! Not now." Donovan looked down at the gauges and realized that he had ignored the flashing red light indicating that the fuel tank was empty. He climbed off the ATV and grabbed his flashlight. He shone the heavy beam of light down the hill. A beam of light bounced back into his eyes. Walking toward the light, he realized it was a cell phone. He picked it up and saw that the front face had been obliterated. The case was light pink with black flowers. He turned the flashlight so that the beam shone on the creek below.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Zak. "No signal? Really? Come on!" Donovan shoved the phone back into his pocket.
*******
As the sun set and the sky grew darker, Isabelle tried not to panic. Her ass ached from sitting on the hard ground, and twigs and random dry blades of grass irritated her arms when she lay down. The stars began to peek out one by one. Stars continued to appear as the sky darkened, and Isabelle was soon covered in a virtual astral blanket above her. She sobbed periodically as the pain from her leg radiated through her body in waves. Rolling over onto her stomach, she again tried to crawl toward the top of the hill. As she put pressure on her knee, a fierce pain shot through her and she fell flat on her face. She managed to push herself over onto her back and looked up the stars.
"Just my luck, I get asked out on a date by the sexiest man I've ever seen, and now I'm going to die out here, alone on this mountain. Probably get eaten by a cougar when I could be getting eaten out by a firefighter right now. I'm so fucking stupid." The sound of her own voice offered little comfort.
Exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open. A tear rolled down her cheek as she closed her eyes.
&nbs
p; *******
His bear remembered her scent. Donovan had been in denial about his dream woman being the missing hiker. He hoped that it wasn't her and that she was safe in her hotel room, but deep down he knew that it was her out here somewhere, scared and alone. Of course it was a new moon, so there was little to help him see. Donovan's firefighter brothers were all bears, but nobody in town knew their secret. At least, he hoped nobody knew. Alone in the dark, he needed to find her soon. The temperature would probably drop into the low thirties tonight and he shuddered when he thought about how the cold would affect her if she spent the night out here.
"Where are you, Isabelle?" Donovan set her phone down on the seat of his ATV. He hoped that the shape her phone was in wasn't an indication of her condition. "You've got to be around her somewhere." Donovan took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. This mountain and the view were breathtaking. The blanket of stars above felt like a billion helpers guiding him to his dream girl. Donovan thought of Isabelle's beautiful smile and amazing body. Instead of being out here in the cold, he wished she was in his warm bed with her breasts pushed up against his chest while he ran his fingers through her chocolate brown hair. He heard rustling toward the creek and raised his flashlight to see what it was. On the hill toward the creek he spotted a tennis shoe. The rustling noise stopped and he saw the source out of the corner of his eye. A mountain lion was perched on a rock next to the water and was watching something or someone.
As much as he wanted to avoid it, he no longer had a choice. Luckily, he was able to shift without removing his clothes. This neat trick was part of the curse Donovan and his brothers bore. Over the years, he and his brothers had avoided some potentially awkward situations by not having to strip naked in order to shift. Donovan shifted into his bear and headed toward the mountain lion. He hoped that the big cat would be easily scared off without too much of a fight. He crept closer to the animal and he soon saw what the mountain lion was watching. Isabelle was lying on the ground on her back. Her jeans were torn and he could see that she was bloody. She looked like she was unconscious. As he approached her, he could smell her and see that she was breathing. He felt relieved that her injuries didn't look too bad. The mountain lion looked aloof. He sat perched watching his prey. Donovan headed toward the rock hoping to get the big cat to run away. It didn't budge. Slowly, he crept closer to the big cat, creating a target between it and Isabelle.
