Snowbound in Montana

by C. J. Carmichael

  Eliza snapped her boots onto her skis feeling a little trepidatious. She hoped she wasn’t going to hold up the group.

  “Looks like we’re in for a dump of snow,” Marshall said. “We’ll do some quick warm-up exercises and then get moving, so we can be back by the fire before it gets much worse.”

  Eliza found the exercises, and the accompanying comments, very helpful.

  “It’s the weight transfer in skiing that allows you to glide,” Marshall explained. “You have to commit all your weight from one ski to the other.”

  Ten minutes later, he was leading the way down a double-track set path, followed by Jason and Sydney, and then Buck. Eliza took up the rear, gliding down the gentle hill, then starting to kick back and glide as the path leveled off and entered the thick, pine forest.

  Every now and then, Marshall circled back to the end of the pack and checked on everyone’s progress. Eliza marvelled at how smoothly he was able to change direction, and how far he managed to travel with each of his glides.

  “You’re doing well,” he said, before giving her a slight modification.

  “Thanks,” she replied, but he was already gone, back to the front of the pack, guiding them past a few signposts and keeping them on the right trail.

  Soon, Eliza was having so much fun she forgot to be nervous. The fresh snow made everything so beautiful. The trees looked as if they’d been topped with thick vanilla frosting and the fat, lacy flakes tickled her nose as they fell. The one time she fell, when her ski snagged on a pine cone that dropped from a tree into one of the tracks, her inelegant tumble was so cushioned by the thick banks of snow that it didn’t even hurt.

  Even so, Marshall glided back to check on her, holding out his hand to help her up. “You okay?”

  “Just embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be. We all fall sometimes.”

  She was disappointed when the lodge came back into view. How could eight-miles have gone by so quickly?

  Sydney, however, mustn’t have been having much fun, because she muttered, “Thank God this is finally over.” Her husband, Jason, looked at her anxiously, but didn’t say anything. Sydney couldn’t seem to get out of her skis fast enough, and was soon walking rapidly toward the lodge. Her husband thanked Marshall, then quickly followed.

  “We sure earned our dinner tonight,” Buck said good-humouredly, not seeming to have noticed the exchange between the Kellys. He clasped Marshall on the back. “You know what you’re doing, that’s pretty obvious. How long have you been skiing?”

  “Since I was a kid. I used to be on the Junior ski team.”

  He said this modestly, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Buck whistled. “Is that right. Did you make it to the Olympics?”

  “Never had the chance to try. I was injured when I was seventeen. That was end of competing for me.”

  “Too bad,” Buck said. “You’ll have to tell me and the wife the whole story later. Right now, I better get showered and see what those girls of ours are up to.” He gave the Eliza a wave, then took off for the lodge.

  Eliza realized Marshall had removed his skis as well, and was waiting for her. She couldn’t help grinning. “That was so much fun. I wish we didn’t have to go in.”

  “You’re really talented,” Marshall said. “And I’m not just saying that. Trust me. But as much as I’d like to keep skiing, as well, we’d better get inside. This storm is going to get worse before it gets better, and it isn’t much fun skiing in a white-out.”

  She looked from the pretty, fat flakes falling gracefully around them, to the grey sky. “How long is it expected to snow?”

  “Last I checked it was supposed to end by morning.”

  But she could tell he had his doubts.

  By evening the snow was falling so thickly, Eliza couldn’t see two feet out the windows. The wind had picked up as well, and was rattling the windows, making the old wood lodge groan. Now, Eliza was happy to sit with the other guests around the large stone fireplace. Most of them were reading. The teenaged girls had found a pool table in the games room. The young boy, Kevin, kept alternating between hanging out with the girls, and coming back to report to his parents.

  “They won’t let me play. They say I’m bothering them.”

  “Why don’t you play one of your video games?” his mother, Tina Ritchie, asked.

  “I’m bored. I want to do something. There’s a ping pong table. Will you play with me?”

  “I’m reading. Ask your father.”

  But his father was reading too. In the end, it was Marshall who agreed to play with the little boy. Eliza wondered if he got paid extra for entertaining the younger charges.

  By ten o’clock, it felt like midnight. Eliza yawned, then said a general good-night and made her way to her room. Briefly, her gaze connected with Marshall’s.

  “Sleep well, Eliza,” he said.

  “You, too.”

  She’d been wondering if thoughts about John would keep her awake all night. He was scheduled to arrive at Bramble House tomorrow afternoon. What would he say when he found out she wasn’t there? Would he leave? Try to find her?

  But these questions didn’t trouble her as much as she’d thought they would. She fell asleep quickly, lulled by the moaning of the wind and the security of her warm bed.

  In the morning, the first thing she did was glance toward the window. Since they were out in the wilderness she hadn’t bothered to close the curtains and she could see right away that it was still snowing. She felt a moment’s unease. Hadn’t Marshall said the storm was expected to end by now?

  But, it was only snow, she reasoned. And they were safe and warm, here in the lodge.

  Chapter Three

  ‡

  Marshall wasn’t in the dining hall when Eliza showed up, at seven-thirty. The windows on the outside wall were so covered in frost she could hardly see out of them. But the room itself was toasty warm thanks to the cast iron stove in one corner. In the other corner was a buffet table. The center of the room was taken up with two long pine tables, bench seating on either side. At one of the tables were the Brackett and Ritchie families, complete with the three teenaged girls and poor Kevin, stuck between his parents and already looking bored.

  For lunch and dinner yesterday, Eliza had sat next to Mary and Ted Arbuckle. They were accountants who had lived in Marietta all their lives. They had no other family and liked to spend their holidays on ski trips like this one. This was the fifth trip they’d taken with Marshall, and according to them, he was the best ski guide ever.

  That was about as far as their conversation had gone. They hadn’t asked Eliza any questions about herself, and she’d finally realized that they really just wanted to be left alone.

  This morning Eliza took a place next to the other couple who didn’t have children, Jason and Sydney Kelly. They looked around her age, maybe a little older. Hopefully, she’d have more in common with them than she’d had with the Arbuckles. She soon found out that Jason was a dentist and Sydney a dental hygienist. They’d met at work and had been married five years.

  Breakfast was delicious, apple strudel and muesli, hot coffee prepared in European presses from freshly ground coffee. Jason complimented everything, trying to push seconds on his wife, who didn’t seem to have much of an appetite.

  “Have you been here before?” Eliza asked politely. There was weird tension between them that made her feel uncomfortable.

  “This is our first time,” Jason said. “We thought it sounded like a fun adventure.”

  “I’m not so sure about the fun part. But at least it gets us out of spending Christmas with the family,” Sydney added.

  Eliza smiled. “It can get overwhelming this time of year, can’t it?”

  “Especially when you’re the only couple without children,” Sydney said. “I have ten nieces and nephews on my side of the family. Jason has eight.”

  “Wow. That must get busy.”

  “Total mayhem,” Jason agreed. “This is m
uch more civilized.”

  “Except for that little boy with the Ritchie family. I can’t imagine why his parents brought him here. He’s so annoying.”

  Eliza glanced at the other table. Kevin was no longer seated next to his parents, he was doing laps around the room, using a pretend gun to take pot shots at imaginary creatures on the ceiling. “He must be bored.”

  Abruptly, Sydney stood. “I’m going back to the room to put on my long underwear. It looks cold out there.”

  “I’ll come too.” Jason gave Eliza an apologetic smile. “It was nice talking to you.”

  Eliza smiled in return, then poured herself a second cup of coffee. As she watched them leave she had to wonder. Was Sydney usually such a negative person? Or was she upset about something in particular? Maybe something Jason did—like have an affair? That might explain why he seemed so anxious to make her happy. Guilty conscience and all.

  She took a sip of her coffee and laughed at herself. Here she was, inventing stories, based on no real evidence. Just because the love of her life had been an unfaithful liar, didn’t mean all men were like that.

  A minute later, Marshall and the lodge owner, Griff, came into the room. Both had frost on their hair and eyelashes, ruddy cheeks and snow-caked trousers. They’d obviously just come in from outdoors.

  “Lots of snow out there, and it’s still coming down,” Marshall announced. “But we’ll be doing the Panorama Ridge trail today, as planned.”

  “It’s track-set now,” Griff added, “But it won’t be for long.”

  “I suggest you finish your breakfasts quickly, grab one of the bagged lunches Betsy’s put out, for your packs, and meet me at the trail head in fifteen minutes.” Marshall grabbed a piece of strudel from the table, which he devoured in two bites, then went to say a few words to the Ritchies and Bracketts. A minute later he was at Eliza’s side.

  “Looking forward to another day in the snow?”

  “I am. Is everyone coming?” The Bracketts were in the process of leaving the dining room right now, while the Ritchies seemed to be arguing about something.

  “Not sure.” Marshall, too, was eyeing the Ritchie family. “I’m a little worried about Kevin. I gave him a lesson yesterday afternoon and he’s got great balance. But with all this fresh snow, it’s going to be a lot of work. I could pull him in a sled, but he’s a little big for that.” He shrugged.

  “Poor kid just doesn’t seem to fit in, anywhere, does he?”

  “If it wasn’t for this storm, we could have made it work.” Marshall straightened. “Anyway, I’d better start organizing or we’ll end up with a late start.”

  Eliza took an extra minute to finish her coffee, then was heading to the washroom when she heard Kevin shout, “But I want to go!”

  “You’re too little. Mom and I will stay back with you. Anna, you go ahead with your friends.” As soon as the father said this, his teenaged daughter took off at a run.

  “Thanks, Dad! See you later, Mom!”

  “Not fair!” Kevin stared after his sister, then punched his fist in the air.

  “It wouldn’t be fun with all this snow anyway,” his mother said. “Come on Kevin. Let’s go back to the room and get a book to read.”

  “A book? Why can’t we go sledding?”

  “Maybe later…”

  Eliza didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. She had to get a move on or she’d hold up the group.

  *

  It was hard work skiing in all the fresh powder, but Eliza loved it. Once more, she’d started out at the back of the pack, but within an hour she advanced to the front with Marshall. He’d shown her how to pole more effectively and it was really helping. Every now and then he went back to check on the others. Then, he’d return to ski with her for a bit.

  “You’re such a natural. It’s hard to believe you’ve only been skiing for two years.”

  “Too bad I didn’t start earlier. I might have been able to train for the Olympics, like you.”

  “No doubt.”

  She laughed. “Seriously, though, how did you get started on the Olympic track?”

  “I can thank my aunt for that. I lived with her and her husband in Denver for three years. They were avid skiers, up in Aspen every weekend in the winter. They enrolled me in a learn-to-ski program that included some Nordic as well as downhill. It didn’t take long for me to figure out which of the two I preferred.”

  “Were you still living with them when you were injured?”

  “No. That happened in Utah, and I was with a foster family by then, arranged by my ski coach. They kept in touch with me after my accident, but by the time I came out of the hospital, I was eighteen and able to live on my own.”

  “And the accident? How did it happen?”

  “I was blindsided by a skier, coming down a track that merged with the one I was on. I had the right of way, but it didn’t matter. My legs still broke, and I ended up in a coma that lasted forty-eight hours. The legs healed, but it was the brain trauma that finished my career.”

  “That sounds scary.”

  “Yeah. It was. I had trouble concentrating for a long time after that. I had to go to speech therapy, as well.”

  Using his ski pole, Marshall pointed to a clearing up ahead. “Hard to tell now, but we’re on the ridge. Usually an amazing view over there.”

  But today, all they saw was grey fog and snow.

  An hour later, they stopped for lunch, at another spot Marshall assured them typically had an incredible view over the valley. It was so cold, they ate quickly, no one said much. Soon they were back on the trail.

  And the snow kept coming.

  Despite being part of a large group, the snow was so heavy now, that Eliza could hear nothing but the sound of her skis crunching against the track, her breath loud and labored in her ears. The pine trees were snow-shrouded ghosts, pressing in from either side. She couldn’t see more than three feet in front of her. Every forward glide was an exercise in trust, as she had no idea where she was going.

  She had to admit she felt relieved when she finally caught a glimpse of the lodge’s red door.

  Eliza left her skis and boots in the drying room, along with her soggy jacket, mitts and hat. Her cheeks tingled as they met with the warm air from the fire. When she rubbed her nose, she discovered it was totally numb. And so were her toes.

  The afternoon tea made all the effort of the ski worthwhile. There were oatmeal scones, huckleberry preserves, and clotted cream. Bowls of steaming hot vegetable soup, and warm brie served with toasted walnuts and rosemary flatbread. Best of all was the layered chocolate cake for dessert, with brandied cherries and whipped cream.

  And the Earl Grey tea went perfectly with all of the above.

  “I feel like I’m in heaven,” Eliza confessed. Marshall had taken the seat across from her, and she had to admit she was glad. So far, she hadn’t had much success breaking the ice with the other people in the group. Besides, Marshall was proving to be more interesting than she’d expected.

  She asked him questions about his years on the ski team, and then about the injury and what it had been like to have his dreams taken away so abruptly like that.

  “Honestly, I wasn’t in any shape to care. Not for a long time.”

  It made her heart ache to see the sadness in his eyes. “How long were you in hospital?”

  “Two months. Then two years of rehab after that. Luckily, I had insurance with the team.”

  Which implied his family would not have had the medical coverage to deal with it. “Your parents must have been terribly worried about you.”

  Marshall, up until now so open and frank with her, glanced down at the table. “I’m sure Mom was, but she was living across the country, remarried with a new family. And my father was working in the oilfields in South America. He still is.”

  “But—they must have visited you.”

  “Mom did a few times. But she had a young family who needed her. And obviously, it would have been
a really long trip for my Dad.”

  Her questions were making him uncomfortable, so she stopped. But her curiosity was anything but sated. Her parents weren’t the warm and mushy type. But she knew, if she was in a serious accident the way Marshall had been, they would be there. They just would.

  “What about your family? Why aren’t you spending your holidays with them?”

  She’d figured he would ask that question eventually. And it was fair, especially since he’d been so candid with her. “My parents live in California, as do my sister and brothers and their families. We’ve never made a big deal about Christmas. Mom always preferred to spend the money and time on travelling and avoid the fuss.”

  “So where are they this year?”

  “Maui.”

  “With this crazy weather, you probably wish you’d gone with them.”

  She didn’t even have to think about that. “No. I’m good with this.”

  “I hope you still feel that way when you hear the announcements I’m about to make.” He stood up and asked if he could have everyone’s attention for a few minutes.

  “Just a few things I need to let you know about. First, the roads were in no shape for the cleaning crew to get out here this morning. You’ll have to make your own beds today. Hopefully, you’ve been hanging your towels to dry and can reuse them, but if you need fresh ones, talk to me and I’ll find you something.”

  “I guess we can handle that,” Buck Brackett said. “But what’s the deal with the cleaning crew? Haven’t the plows been out clearing the roads?”

  “The county’s having a hard enough time keeping the main roads open right now,” Marshall explained. “They probably won’t get to our access road until the snow stops.”

  “But—Griff has a plow, doesn’t he? I’ve seen him using it to clear the area around the lodge.”

  “Yes. But it’s not big enough to clear fifteen miles of access road. I’m afraid we just have to wait this one out, Buck.” Marshall held up his hand. “And one more thing. You may have noticed the Wi-Fi is down.”